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Pheasant Wild Ramp Pesto Pasta

This is a recipe the wife and I made earlier in the spring, while I'm posting it a little late, you can still make a similar dish with Basil Pesto. I mainly post these recipes to share what we did in our kitchen in the hopes it inspires you to do something similar in yours. We were lucky enough to get ahold of a bunch of Wild Ramps, aka Wild Leeks this spring. I had been wanting to do a few hunter / forager type recipes and these Wild Ramps provided some good inspiration to get started. Unfortunately, I didn't forage for these ramps myself, but I purchased them from someone that did!! When I was thinking about what I wanted to do with these ramps, I knew I wanted to do something that really featured these, what I can up with is this Pheasant Wild Ramp Pesto Pasta. I also wanted to do a "Hunter Style" dish, so I also made a Cacciatore which I'll be posting later.

These Wild Ramps only grow for a short period of time during the spring, around the Appalachian Mountain regions of North America and Canada. These ramps have a sweet onion - garlic flavor and pungent smell. You can identify these Ramps by their broad, smooth, green leaves, usually with two or three leaves per stalk, and white bulb. Species in the northern states can have a reddish colored stalk. Wild Ramps have experienced a surge in popularity the past several years. Because of this and the fact that these plants can take seven years to reach maturity, it can lead to over harvesting. If you're lucky enough to find these growing, practice responsible, sustainable harvesting techniques, such as only cutting one to two leaves from each plant and leaving the bulbs behind or only harvesting of a few of the plants and leaving the majority behind.

I've tried to use these ramps several different ways. I've incorporated the bulbs into recipes where I would normally use garlic, onion or shallot, or any other member of the Allium family of vegetables. In some cases, I would use them as an addition, instead of a replacement, to those ingredients. Whereas the leaves I used as a garnish or wilted into dishes or diced them up like you would with green onions. I've used the leaves and bulbs to make a Wild Ramp Pesto and I've also dehydrated the leaves to make Ramps Salt seasoning. I then used the Wild Ramp Pesto and Ramps seasoning salt to make this Wild Ramp Pesto and Pheasant Pasta dish. If you don't want to make the Wild Ramp Pesto you can always substitute it for traditional Basil Pesto, then use Arugula at the end with Regular sea salt instead of the Ramp Salt.

Ingredients

Pheasant Pasta

Wild Ramp Pesto

Ramp Salt

Instructions

Step #1 To make Ramp Salt. Wash Ramps and remove bulbs

Step #2 Add Ramp Leaves to dehydrator at 165 degrees.

Step #3 Allow to dehydrate for 5 hours, or until they become brittle and fall apart to the touch.

Step #4 Remove leaves to mortar and crush with pestle.

Step #5 Combine with Flakey Sea Salt in container and shake to combine

Wild Ramp Pesto

Step #1 To make Pesto, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add setup another pot with ice cold water.

Step #2 Remove the ramp bulbs from the leaves.

Step #3 Drop ramps leaves in boiling water for about 45 - to 60 seconds.

Step #4 Remove with slotted spoon to another bowl full of ice water.

Step #5 Submerge, then remove to wire rack and allow time to dry.

Step #6 Heat a skillet on medium heat. When hot, add Pine Nuts and toasted until brown.

Step #7 Remove thin, translucent outer skin from Ramp bulbs. Then add Ramp Leaves,Ramp Bulbs, toasted Pine Nuts, Parmesan Cheese, Olive Oil to food processor or Blender and pulse until you get the consistency that you want.

Step #8 Remove to a container and allow to chill in refrigerator.

Pheasant Pasta

Step #1 To make Pasta remove skin from Pheasant.

Step #2 Season both sides generously with the Ramp Salt we made.

Step #3 Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil in Skillet on medium heat.

Step #4 Cook Pheasant 3 to 4 minutes per side, until done, then remove to a plate and allow to rest.

Step #5 Add diced up Shallots, Garlic and Wild Ramp bulbs to skillet and cook for a few minutes.

Step #6 Add tablespoon of Ramp Salt, stirring to coat.

Step #7 Add Penne Pasta to Skillet and 4 cups of Pheasant Stock.

Optionally: You can cook the pasta in the Pheasant Stock in a separate pot and combine everything at the end, if you don't have a lid for your skillet or large enough skillet to make this a one pot meal. Just make sure you reserve the Pheasant Stock, so you can add some of it back at the end when you combine everything.

Step #8 Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes. Until Pasta is cooked, Wheat Pasta might take slightly longer.

Step #9 Shredded the Pheasant with your hands.

Step #10 Turn heat off of Skillet and add shredded Pheasant back to pan.

Step #11 Add diced up Cream Cheese, Ramp Pesto and Heavy Cream. Stirring to combine.

Step #12 Remove to large bowl, add Ramps leaves and / or Arugula, tossing to combine.

Step #13 Season with additional salt, pepper. Garnish with more Parmesan Cheese, Pecorino Romano, more chopped up Ramp Leaves, Red Pepper Flakes and / or Fresh Parsley.

Step #14 and Enjoy!

Recipe Card

Pheasant Wild Ramp Pesto Pasta

Written by Jeff Davis Visit : Visit authors website

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Prep Time: 5 hr - Cook Time: 30 min

Ingredients

Pheasant Pasta

4 Skinless Pheasant Breast

1/4 cup(s) Wild Ramp Salt ( see ingredients below )

2 Wild Ramp Bulbs - Diced

4 clove(s) garlic, chopped

1 Shallot, diced

4 cup(s) Unsalted Pheasant Stock ( or Chicken Stock )

16 oz Penna Pasta ( we used whole wheat )

1 cup(s) Wild Ramp Pesto

4 oz Cream Cheese

8 oz Heavy Cream

salt and pepper, to taste

Red Pepper Flakes

Wild Ramp Pesto

15 Wild Ramps ( Wild Leeks ) - Bulbs removed and blanched

6 Bulbs from Wild Ramps

4 tbsp Pine Nuts - toasted

1/2 cup(s) Parmesan Cheese

6 tbsp Olive Oil

Sea Salt, to taste

Red Pepper Flakes

Ramp Salt

36 Ramp Leaves - Dried on Dehydrator

3/4 cup(s) Flakey Sea Salt

3/4 cup(s) Flakey Sea Salt

Instructions

Step #1 - To make Ramp Salt. Wash Ramps and remove bulbs

Step #2 - Add Ramp Leaves to dehydrator at 165 degrees.

Step #3 - Allow to dehydrate for 5 hours, or until they become brittle and fall apart to the touch.

Step #4 - Remove leaves to mortar and crush with pestle.

Step #5 - Combine with Flakey Sea Salt in container and shake to combine

Wild Ramp Pesto

Step #1 - To make Pesto, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add setup another pot with ice cold water.

Step #2 - Remove the ramp bulbs from the leaves.

Step #3 - Drop ramps leaves in boiling water for about 45 - to 60 seconds.

Step #4 - Remove with slotted spoon to another bowl full of ice water.

Step #5 - Submerge, then remove to wire rack and allow time to dry.

Step #6 - Heat a skillet on medium heat. When hot, add Pine Nuts and toasted until brown.

Step #7 - Remove thin, translucent outer skin from Ramp bulbs. Then add Ramp Leaves,Ramp Bulbs, toasted Pine Nuts, Parmesan Cheese, Olive Oil to food processor or Blender and pulse until you get the consistency that you want.

Step #8 - Remove to a container and allow to chill in refrigerator.

Pheasant Pasta

Step #1 - To make Pasta remove skin from Pheasant.

Step #2 - Season both sides generously with the Ramp Salt we made.

Step #3 - Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil in Skillet on medium heat.

Step #4 - Cook Pheasant 3 to 4 minutes per side, until done, then remove to a plate and allow to rest.

Step #5 - Add diced up Shallots, Garlic and Wild Ramp bulbs to skillet and cook for a few minutes.

Step #6 - Add tablespoon of Ramp Salt, stirring to coat.

Step #7 - Add Penne Pasta to Skillet and 4 cups of Pheasant Stock. Optionally: You can cook the pasta in the Pheasant Stock in a separate pot and combine everything at the end, if you don't have a lid for your skillet or large enough skillet to make this a one pot meal. Just make sure you reserve the Pheasant Stock, so you can add some of it back at the end when you combine everything.

Step #8 - Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes. Until Pasta is cooked, Wheat Pasta might take slightly longer.

Step #9 - Shredded the Pheasant with your hands.

Step #10 - Turn heat off of Skillet and add shredded Pheasant back to pan.

Step #11 - Add diced up Cream Cheese, Ramp Pesto and Heavy Cream. Stirring to combine.

Step #12 - Remove to large bowl, add Ramps leaves and / or Arugula, tossing to combine.

Step #13 - Season with additional salt, pepper. Garnish with more Parmesan Cheese, Pecorino Romano, more chopped up Ramp Leaves, Red Pepper Flakes and / or Fresh Parsley.

Step #14 - and Enjoy!

About the Author

Jeff Davis

You may think cooking and recipes don’t have much to do with a website dedicated to hunting dogs ... but really, why do we hunt? Sure, we enjoy watching our dogs work in the field and being outdoors, but ultimately, hunting is about survival and feeding our families. We might as well try to do it well. I'm not a chef and definitely no food authority ... but I do like to eat and enjoy cooking. After searching for people willing to share their recipes on Gundog Central, without much success, I decided to try to do a few on my own, with my wife Tami's help. The recipes I share here are things I like to eat and have made here at home. I've tried to include step-by-step instructions with each meal describing exactly how I did it, but my method may not be best, if you decide to try a recipe posted here, please use whatever technique you think works best, I'm simply sharing how I did it. You'll see a lot of recipes where I've tried to make things from starch, when I could have just used store bought ingredients, simply because I wanted to learn how something was done. My goal is to continually update these recipes as I learn new things and techniques. These are my attempts at creating good, home cooked food, that I would like to eat! If I'm sharing it here, my family and I enjoyed it and I believe you will too.