Wild Garlic Pasta
We don’t get ramps in France, at least I’ve never seen them. But I am certain you can use those in place of the bears’ garlic. Since they have tiny bulbs at the bottom, you may need to trim those and sauté them first, before adding the leaves, as they will take a bit longer to soften. Ramps can be less-strong in flavor than wild garlic. So if you want to use them, you could use up to 8 ounces (225g.)
It’s vital to use fresh pasta, which you can make yourself – I used the recipe from My Paris Kitchen, without adding fresh herbs – or you can use the recipe for fresh pasta here on the site. You’ll need about 1 1/4 pounds (565g) – my recipe is generous because I love homemade pasta so much, so you can dry the rest of the batch to use for another purpose. (Or freeze the leftover dough.) I cut my noodles wide, by hand, creating what’s called papparadelli. You can use fettucini-shaped pasta if you have a pasta cutter attachment, or are buying fresh pasta. Gnocchi would work well, too.
I shaved a bit of ricotta salata (dried ricotta), a mild Italian cheese that my local Italian restaurant has been selling me, with an agreeable tang that doesn’t interfere with other flavors, over each serving. But I didn’t snap a picture of them as it was getting dark – and I was hungry! So feel free to do so, if you can get your hands on some.
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 ounces (170g to 225g) wild garlic or ramps
- 3 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for finishing the pasta
- 1 1/4 pounds (565g) fresh pasta
- sea salt
- fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Wash and dry the leaves of wild garlic (or ramps). Coarsely chop the leaves. You should have 1 1/2 to 2 cups, loosely packed. (If using ramps, trim off the thicker bulbs before chopping the leaves, and sauté them in the pan first, since they’ll take a bit longer to cook through than the leaves, in step #4.)
- Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet. When hot, add the wild garlic, seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, drop the pasta in the boiling water. While the pasta is cooking, stir the garlic in the pan until it’s wilted and soft.
- When the pasta is done, drain well then toss in the skillet with the garlic.
- Divide the pasta among 4 bowls and drizzle each with additional olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, if desired.