How to make wild garlic pasta?
Can you finally feel spring in the air? For some of you, the season had already begun, for us here in Eastern Europe, many things are just coming in season and will continue to come for the next few months. Like ramps. Wild garlic, the best of the best wild herbs there are. Here it grows like a weed but is also in the Red Book, which makes it a protected plant. The idea is that if it grows on your property you can cultivate it and cut and sell it, but it is illegal to sell wild garlic that has been picked in the forest. So, when you go to the market, we only get the leaves, because the bulbs are always left in the ground for maximum regrowth options. Also, there is no way to tell where it has been growing. So we just continue to buy or pick and eat it every year. Perfect time to make some wild garlic fettuccine.
Homemade pasta dough for fettuccine
There are many ways you can cook up and eat ramps, the most popular are making pesto, wild garlic, and cheese scones and just throwing it into some salads in place of scallions.
I love making naturally dyed pasta, and this wild garlic pasta dough is super easy to make and super delicious. The best part about flavored pasta doughs is that you can just toss them in simple pan sauces, like Alfredo in this instance or cacio e pepe or add some bacon to the whole equation and egg yolk and you have got yourself the best damn Carbonara there is. It would be just as delicious just swirled in the pan with some butter and fresh pepper.
What do you need to make this recipe?
Like many recipes using ramp leaves, you will need the said leaves. If you have scored some wild garlic with the bulbs still attached, just reserve those for some grilling or stir-frying. The leaves will be blanched and then blended with two whole eggs.
My pasta dough calls for 2 eggs and the added hydration from the ramps. All that will be mixed with some nice pasta grade flour, 00’’ flour, or just all-purpose flour and knead until soft.
After the dough has rested, you can use a pasta machine or just roll it by hand. I have a pasta machine but decided to not use it so I wouldn’t have to clean extra.
But I highly suggest using a pasta machine so you can get that wonderful thin and uniform Fettuccine noodle.
Cooking with what is in season
I am a strong believer in using what is in season, I am in luck because the grand Central Market is just a bike ride away from home. And who doesn’t need a cardio workout when you have a whole backpack full of Aubergines, bell peppers, sourdough, and lamb fillets, and you just keep pedaling home.
I believe that a 10-kilometer ride is beneficial before making creamy wild garlic pasta. Because after having a portion and going in for seconds, you won’t be going anywhere just the couch.
You can toss ramps pasta with any spring veggies and skip the buttery Alfredo sauce altogether, but let’s leave that for later recipes and concentrate on this one.
What goes in Fettuccine Alfredo?
It is one of those recipes that has been butchered and adapted and has started from a humble beginning of good butter, nice cheese, and starchy pasta water. While there are some recipes that call for cream, I am not a fan of it so I decided to lean towards the method of toasting flour in the butter, cutting it with a splash of milk, and then the pasta water.
Everything comes together once you add grated Parmigiano. Which I went and fetched at my local Italian Deli. I am starting to have problems with supermarket “hard-cheeses” which have unknown fat content and are made differently, even the aged ones. They don’t melt but stretch in weird ways which make me think there are corners cut and they are not made the traditional way.
But those are just my thoughts, this creamy ramp pasta can easily be made with any grated cheese on top and even the unknown hard cheese or whatever that even means.
Wild garlic Fettuccine
Ingredients
Wild garlic Fettuccine
- 50 g wild garlic leaves / ramps
- 2 whole eggs
- 300 g pasta flour
- Semolina for dusting
Fettuccine sauce
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- 50 ml milk
- 50 g grated parmigiano
- 300 ml starchy pasta water
Instructions
Wild garlic pasta dough and fettuccine
- Blanch your wild garlic for 30 seconds and plunge in to icy water;Drain and get as dry as possible
- Using a blender, blend together with the two eggs until a beautiful green liquid forms
- Mix with the flour, incorporating it slowly;Knead for 5-7 minutes
- Tightly wrap in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes
- Roll out until reached your desired thickness
- Dust with semolina and pasta flour and roll into a log
- Cut the log into slices and dust with more semolina before unrolling the slices
Fettuccine Alfredo
- Boil your pasta in a large pot of salted water for 5 minutes
- Heat a skillet on medium high and add the butter
- Once the butter is melted, add the flour and quickly whisk, add the milk and keep whisking;Add the water slowly while whisking
- Continue to whisk until the sauce thickens, this whole process takes about 1-1,5 minute
- Remove from heat, add the pasta, cheese and toss in the sauce
Have you already cooked with ramps before or are you still unsure, carry on reading and I will answer some of the most frequently asked questions.
What part of wild garlic can you eat?
You can eat the leaves raw, but the bulb does call for some sort of cooking. For this recipe, we are using blanched leaves which are then shocked in ice water to keep them from wilting and keep that beautiful green color.
How do you keep wild garlic fresh?
Once bought from the store, it should be washed because there will be dirt and dust on it. Then you can keep it in a glass of water on your counter or in the fridge, the bulbs may start sprouting again. I kept just the leaves in a glass of water and they lasted for 4 days on the counter before cooking.
Can you use wild garlic instead of garlic?
There are many recipes in which you can replace garlic with wild garlic, but it should be used in a different way, instead of traditional frying in oil before other ingredients.