This is springtime encapsulated in a (mostly) one-pan brunch recipe!
The appearance of briefly available spring produce sneaks up on me every year, so when I walked into the market/bottle shop housed inside Leslieville’s Ascari Enoteca in search of soppressata, I initially thought that the bright green in the bottom corner of the fridge was basil. Pleasantly surprised by my mistake, I walked out with a gorgeous bundle of fresh ramps and—at the suggestion of the staff—a package of onion flowers.
Onion flowers have a bright and crisp flavour, much like onions themselves, yet slightly less sweet. Think of a green onion, but lighter in flavour and in the most delicate, delightful form.
While they’re an excellent compliment to the ramps, feel free to swap in some fresh herbs in lieu of the onion flowers. Some basil, parsely or even dill would work well too.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of fresh ramps (about 8-10 stalks)
- 4-5 eggs
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan
- freshly cracked pepper to taste
Process
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Prepare ramps by rinsing them, trimming off the roots and any discoloured portion of the leaves, and thinly slicing—keeping the stems separate from the leaves. No need to be fussy with the slicing as the ramps will break down further in the blender.
- Melt butter in an oven-proof skillet on medium-high heat. When bubbles start to dance, add the chopped stems and cook, stirring, just for a minute. Add in the chopped stems and cook for another 1-2 minutes just until the ramps are softened. Add a couple three-finger pinches of salt and a generous showering of pepper.
- Add the ramps directly into the blender with half of the olive oil. Pulse until the ramps are fine, but not puréed. Add the remaining olive oil in a slow drizzle while continuing to blend. Still blending, add 2 tablespoons of water.
- Pour the ramp mixture back into the sautée pan set on very low heat. Add another generous pinch of salt and grind of fresh pepper and stir to combine. Crack eggs one at a time directly into the ramp mixture, spacing them evenly in the pan.
- Bake for 7-8 minutes until the eggs reach desired doneness.
- Remove pan from the oven; shower the eggs with parmesan, onion flowers and/or fresh herbs and additional salt and pepper as desired. Serve with a rustic baguette to mop up the herbaceous oil.
with abundance 