It was a beautiful afternoon in west Michigan to hunt for some ramps out in the woods, so Andrew and I went out to gather this wild forest delight that has a delicate flavor somewhere between a green onion and a leek. Here is the nice little recipe that we came up with for dinner.
2 small cipollini onions, diced
1 leek, white parts diced
12 ramps, washed and outer layer stripped
6 TBS butter
1 cup arborio rice
4-5 cups vegetable or meat stock
4 oz local hard apple cider
2 oz local goat cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1. Roughly chop 4 of the ramps and set the others in a pan on low with 2 tablespoons of butter.
2. Heat the other 4 tablespoons of the butter and saute the onions, leeks and chopped ramps on medium heat until softened.
3. Add rice saute 2 min. Add cider and reduce until it is evaporated.
4. Add 1 cup of stock at a time stirring constantly until each cup is absorbed. When the rice is al dente add a final 1/4 of stock and the cheese along with some freshly ground pepper. Keep stirring until desired consistency.
5. Plate up the rice and then top with the slowly cooked whole ramps.