This recipe is super quick and simple.

Here's what you'll need: 

1lb softened butter 

About 30-40 cleaned leaves (just the green) 

1/4 cup cold water 

3 Tbs of olive oil 

Salt to taste 

Get a nice big pot with water, crank it up to high and let it come to a boil. The first thing we're going to do is blanch the leaves. This is gonna shock the greens and keep the leaves nice and bright; it won't turn dark or brown. Next, get a big bowl of ice water and set aside. Drop about half of the leaves into the boiling water and let them cook for 10 seconds, very quick! Then immediately submerge them into the ice water. I do them in two batches because you don't want your water to be overcrowded. You want a quick cook so the leaves need space to evenly get hot. Blanching stops the cooking process; this can be done with all green vegetables if your goal is to parcook or maintain color. Next dry the ramps on a nice stack of paper towels and squeeze out any excess liquid. Then throw all of your ingredients except for the butter into a blender and start to liquefy, gradually adding any extra water as needed to get a thick but fluid ribbon of liquid going. I like to really purée mine so I let it go for about 60 seconds to really smooth everything out. Now you have two options here. You can use the liquid as is or strain out any pulp that may be left. This all depends on whatever the utilization would be. Personally, I want a nice smooth, clean butter, no lumps. So I passed mine through a strainer or chinois. Next throw your butter in a kitchen aide mixer (or mix by hand) and beat until the butter is smooth and fluffy. Next add your liquid, a quarter at a time, and mix until homogenous. I like to salt to taste at this point, which is usually a generous 3 finger pinch or two. Keep in the fridge until ready to use. 

Now this butter is super versatile. It can be added to sauces, used as a sauce, thrown on top of steaks after grilling or however else you would use butter in a savory alternative. I took some freshly made goat cheese agnolotti and tossed them with some melted ramp butter for the perfect spring lunch. 

Tags: spring, recipe, recipes, pasta, butter, seasonal