By Candice Walker on April 11, 2024 (Last updated April 11, 2024) This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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There’s no shortage of ways to use fresh ramps, and this ramp pasta might be the most delicious and easy option! Once harvested you can sautee fresh ramps with a few simple ingredients to make an easy yet flavorful sauce in less than 20 minutes. Pair it with a long, thin pasta like spaghetti or bucatini for a pleasing and filling spin on aglio e olio.
🌟 Why You’ll Love This Ramp Pasta
Delicious way to enjoy fresh ramps: Since ramps are in season for such a short period, many recipes involve preserving them such as pickling ramps or turning them into ramp butter. These recipes are delicious, but ramp pasta allows you to enjoy the ramp and its freshest form. You can also finish some of your favorite recipes with this ramp salt.
Mouth-watering aroma and taste: Ramps are in the allium family and have elements of garlic and onion with their own unique flavor. They’re aromatic, earthy, bold, and perfect to complement a simple pasta sauce.
Switch up your pasta: I like a long pasta noodle for this recipe, so you have lots of choices! You could use spaghetti, bucatini, fettuccine, or many others. I also have a recipe for a ramp pesto if you’re looking for more delicious ramp pasta.
🧾 Ingredients in This Recipe
Spaghetti – You can also use bucatini or even fettuccine, though the fettuccine is arguably a bit wide for this recipe. You can use dried or fresh pasta. My preference is for slightly al dente.
Extra virgin olive oil – You will want high-quality olive oil. The recipe is so simple that the taste of this olive oil shines through.
Red pepper flakes – These add a kick of heat to the recipe.
Ramps – You will need roughly 10 whole ramps, or 30-40 ramp leaves, and you can also include the bulbs sliced lengthwise.
Salt – I use sea salt, but any salt will work.
Optional parmesan – For an extra creamy texture and nutty taste, I stir up to 1 cup of grated parmesan before serving. It will no longer be a spin on spaghetti aglio e olio, but will now be a spin on spaghetti alla carrettiera!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
👩🍳 How to Make Ramp Pasta
Bring a pot of salted water to boil.
In the meantime, add the oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Add the ramps and cook until translucent and they begin to get golden, 2-5 minutes.
Add the red pepper flakes halfway through. Once the ramps are cooked, turn off the heat.
Cook the pasta until just under al dente. It should be tender, but not completely cooked.
Strain the pasta and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Add that 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the cooled ramps and reduce over high heat by half. The oil should be at room temperature before adding the water.
Add the pasta and stir as it cooks. Add a little more pasta water a bit at a time until the pasta is cooked and the water is absorbed ~30 seconds.
⭐️ Pro Tip ⭐️
Pasta water is your secret to loosening your sauce to the exact consistency that you want. It is also salted, so helps season your sauce.
Season with salt, mix in the parmesan if you want to use it and serve.
Grate a little extra parmesan and cracked black pepper over the final dish if you like!
I love to serve this with a ramp garlicky bread that I make by broiling sliced sourdough topped with ramp butter.
🏆 Tips for Finding Ramps
This recipe uses whole ramps because I was able to get a large bunch of ramps from my local farmers’ market with the bulb intact. I’d say your best bet is to try to find them at the farmers’ market, but go early because ramps are highly sought after due to their short seasonal availability.
If you’re foraging them, it’s much more sustainable to trim them at top of the bulb and only use the leaves. Try to leave at least one leaf per ramp. Removing the entire bulb means the ramps cannot regrow in that spot. If you grow your own at home, of course, you can use the entire ramp.
🌱 More Ways to Cook with Ramps
Ramps are so versatile, and you have to make the most of this ultra-seasonal ingredient while it’s available!
This 20-minute ramp pasta is a delicious and easy way to use fresh ramps. Sautee them to make a flavorful pasta inspired by aglio e olio.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Total Time20 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Diet: Kosher, Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings: 4
Calories: 861kcal
Ingredients
1lb.spaghettior bucatini
2/3cupextra virgin olive oil
1/2tspred pepper flakesup to 2 teaspoons
10rampsor 30-40 leaves, bulbs sliced lengthwise
salt
1cupparmesanoptional*
Instructions
Bring a pot of salted water to boil.
In the meantime, add the oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Add the ramps and cook until translucent and just begins to golden, 2-5 minutes, adding the red pepper flakes half way through. Turn off the heat.
Cook the pasta until just under al dente. It should be tender, but not completely cooked. Strain and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the cooled ramps and reduce over high heat by half. The oil should be at room temperature before adding the water.
Add the pasta and stir as it cooks. Add a little more pasta water a bit at a time until the pasta is cooked and the water is absorbed, ~30 seconds. Season with salt, mix in the parmesan if you are using it, and serve.
Notes
* Want some extra creaminess? Stir up to 1 cup of grated parmesan before serving. It will no longer be a spin on spaghetti aglio e olio, and is now a spin on spaghetti alla carrettiera!
Did you try this recipe?I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a Review to let us know how it came out, if you have a successful substitution or variation, or anything else.
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2 Comments
Sorry I have not tried this recipe or even heard of ramps but I have tons of purslane growing outside my apartment bldg so I’ll try those.
My husband was from Tabriz and we have one daughter, Mandana. Sadly he passed in 1989. I’m a fifth generation Texan but am interested in learning about Persian recipes I could surprise my daughter with, although she’s a finicky eater so they will have to be simple. She loves the crispy rice I make, we call “tadek”. This may be a Turkish word as that region also speaks Turkish. It’s the rice at the bottom of the rice pot that’s slowly browned while the rice is cooking.
Thank you for sharing, Diane, and welcome!
In farsi, we call the crispy rice Tahdig, and here is the recipe. Let me know if you’re looking for anything in particular or if you have any questions… I’m always happy to help.
Sorry I have not tried this recipe or even heard of ramps but I have tons of purslane growing outside my apartment bldg so I’ll try those.
My husband was from Tabriz and we have one daughter, Mandana. Sadly he passed in 1989. I’m a fifth generation Texan but am interested in learning about Persian recipes I could surprise my daughter with, although she’s a finicky eater so they will have to be simple. She loves the crispy rice I make, we call “tadek”. This may be a Turkish word as that region also speaks Turkish. It’s the rice at the bottom of the rice pot that’s slowly browned while the rice is cooking.
Thank you for sharing, Diane, and welcome!
In farsi, we call the crispy rice Tahdig, and here is the recipe. Let me know if you’re looking for anything in particular or if you have any questions… I’m always happy to help.