Ramp Pesto & Two Tomato Bruschetta

My friend Kat does a lot of work in a communal garden here in Toronto, and one of the things I love most about our Monday night cook-a-thon is she often brings over produce from the garden. Earlier this week, she brought over a jar of ramp pesto! Paired with a quick two tomato bruschetta!

Now, ramps' season is spring, but in the spirit of root to tip and waste-not/want-not cooking, Kat decided to use what was left of the plant.

I'll let her explain it.

The portions of the ramps we used were the buds/heads; the ramps had gone to seed so it was sort of like using the flowery tops of chives instead of the oniony bottom if you know what I mean. Ramp season is fiddlehead season - around April. So these are what's left of the plant at this stage of the year.

Kat's Ramp Pesto


Ingredients

1 bunch of basil, just the leaves, washed
3-4 ramp heads
¼ cup of dry roasted almonds
2 Tbsp olive oil
1-1.5 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
dash of water

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients together in a mini chopper or food processor. If you're not vegan, feel free to replace the nutritional yeast with Parmesan cheese.

My Two Tomato Bruschetta

Ingredients

12 thin slices baguette
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 clove garlic, halved
½ pint cherry tomatoes, seeded and chopped
¼ cup chopped oil packed sun dried tomatoes
¼ cup thinly sliced basil
½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cracked pepper

Directions

1. Preheat broiler of oven. Brush one side of the baguette slices with ½ tbsp olive oil. Broil until lightly browned. Flip over, brush with ½ tbsp oil and toast again until lightly browned. Remove from pan and rub one side of each slice with garlic. Discard garlic

2. In a bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Let sit for 10 minutes. Check seasoning.

3. If using pesto, spread 1 tbsp on each baguette slice. Top with bruschetta.

Bonus points for using yellow and red cherry tomatoes.