Bacon and Corn Sauté with Ramps is something you simply must try, if and when you’re lucky enough to score some ramps. Ramps are a seasonal delicacy, wild onions that signals the arrival of spring. I’m sure you can buy them at farmer’s market, but the window of opportunity is narrow.
Better yet – you could look for them when you’re out traipsing in the woods in the spring. We’re lucky enough to have a few patches of ramps growing wild on our property. We’re careful not to over-harvest them, to ensure that they come back year after year. I guess I shouldn’t call it foraging because although we didn’t plant them, they’re a regular “crop” in our world. We don’t have to search them out – it’s a happy reunion we anticipate every year.
Bacon and Corn Sauté with Ramps is really all about the ramps. They’re mildly oniony, slightly garlicky, uniquely rampy. The combination of ramps, earthy asparagus, sweet corn, tomatoes, and salty bacon is truly worth waiting for, year after year.
Bacon and Corn Sauté with Ramps
Ingredients
- 4 thick-cut slices of bacon
- 4 ears of corn
- 4 ramps
- ¾ cup cherry tomatoes
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black peppper
- fresh parsley (for garnish)
Instructions
- Mise en place – Slice the bacon into 1" pieces. Remove the husk and silks from the corn, then cut the kernels off the cob. Remove the root ends of the ramps, then slice the white part of the ramps and chop up the greens. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Mince the parsley, leaves and stems.
- Sauté – Add the bacon and a drizzle of olive oil to a large pan and cook over medium heat until just crispy (12 – 15 mins). Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. Return pan to medium-high heat, then add the corn, the whites of the ramps and a few pinches of salt. Cook until the corn starts to turn golden brown (about 8 minutes total). Try not to move the corn around too much. Let cook undisturbed for 2 minutes at a time before stirring, so that it starts to caramelize but not quite char.
- Finish – Take the pan off the heat, then stir in chopped ramp greens, tomatoes, reserved bacon and minced parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature. Delish.
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