Shaved Asparagus Salad

Asparagus is one spring’s most versatile ingredients. It can steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, baked, broiled, and even grilled. In this dish I decided to have some restraint and let the asparagus be natural and delicate. This dish only has 4 ingredients, which means it can be made on-the-fly and enjoyed over and over again.

Shaved Asparagus Salad

Makes 4 Servings

1 Serving = 2 Points Plus

• 1 bunch of asparagus, blanched and shaved
• 1 oz parmigiano reggiano, shaved
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

First you want to blanch your asparagus in very salty water for 30 seconds. Take the asparagus out and shock it immediately in ice water. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes. When asparagus are cool, drain them and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Next you want to shave the asparagus. You can either use a peeler or Japanese mandoline. If the asparagus are teeny-tiny you can just cut them in half.

Next whisk together lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Combine asparagus, lemon vinaigrette, and the parmigiano reggiano. Season with salt and pepper.

Ramp Ravioli with Lemon Oil

It’s finally that time…SPRING! I have waited months and months for the refreshing sight of green and bright vegetables and now it’s finally here! I promised myself that when ramps started appear at the market that I would use them whenever and wherever possible in my cooking. To kick off my spring festival, I decided to showcase ramps as the focus of this dish. A ramp is a wild onion that is foraged from The Carolina’s to Canada. They have a delicate garlic flavor and a mild onion flavor. They’re only around for about a month, so get ’em while you can! I went a little crazy with making my own pasta dough and my own ricotta cheese so please feel free to substitute the dough with wonton wrappers and you can purchase any kind of ricotta you prefer. This will save you time and money, and definitely some calories since fresh pasta dough isn’t the most figure-friendly. But this was a special occasion…the beginning of spring and a whole bundle of new ingredients to play with! Happy Spring!

Ramp Ravioli with Lemon Oil

Makes 4 serving (small servings about 4 ravioli each)

1 serving = 11 Points Plus

Pasta Dough

• 0.5 # OO flour (can substitute all-purpose flour)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp water
• Pinch of salt

Ramp Filling

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 bunches of ramps (about 6 oz), greens and bulbs separated and thinly sliced
• 1.5 cups reduced-fat ricotta
• ½ tbsp lemon zest
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Lemon Oil Olive

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 tbsp lemon zest

If you are making your own pasta dough by hand, you need to allot at least an hour of your time.

First make a well with your flour.

Flour Well

Add your eggs, olive oil, water, and salt to the center of your flour well.

Add your Eggs, Olive Oil, Water, and Salt

First beat the eggs, water, and olive oil together in the center of the well. Once those are beaten together, slowly start incorporating the flour into your egg mixture being careful not to break the “well.” Eventually it will turn into a big gloopy mess, at this point you want to begin to knead your dough. Don’t worry if it looks sloppy, the dough will come together. I have included a video for your reference since some things are better learned by watching than reading.

Beat your Eggs

Slowly Add In the Flour

The Beginning of Pasta Dough...keep kneading!

Smooth as a Baby's Bottom

How To Make Fresh Dough

Once you have a smooth ball of pasta dough, wrap it up in plastic wrap and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to rest.

While the dough is resting you can make the filling. Place a medium sauté pan, over medium-low heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add your ramp bulbs and sauté quickly for 1 minute. Then add your ramp tops and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and take the pan off the heat and allow the ramps to cool.

Ramps

To make fresh ricotta please reference by own recipe homemade ricotta, but make sure to include the honey or any other sweetener.

Once the ramps are cooled, add the ramps and olive oil to a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Taste the puree and season it accordingly.

Add the ramp puree and lemon zest to the ricotta and mix to combine. Season again if necessary.

Once your dough is rested you want to roll it out to make your ravioli. Now, I rolled my pasta dough out with a 99-cent rolling pin. This was rather difficult and a desperate attempt so I would recommend using a pasta machine instead. If you are using a pasta machine, you want to roll out the sheets to the thinnest setting.

Once the sheets are rolled out, you can place ½ tbsp of the filling to make individual ravioli. Top the sheet of pasta with the fillings with another sheet of pasta directly on top. Make sure to press around the filling to remove any air pockets. This is a crucial step! If you don’t do this, then your ravioli will explode when you cook them in boiling water. Once the air has been pushed out, you can use any ravioli cutter you like to make fun shapes, circles, or squares.

To make the lemon oil, combine 1 tbsp olive oil and lemon zest in a small sauté pan and gently warm up the oil over low heat until the lemon zest if fragrant. Set aside.

Bring a large pot up to boiling water, and season aggressively with salt (it should taste the ocean…no joke). Add the ravioli and cook for 3-4 minutes or until they float to the top. Taste one just to make sure they are done. Drain them well and then top with the lemon oil and serve immediately.

With one bite of ravioli you’ll know that spring has sprung.