1 heaping tablespoon sunflower seeds (or pine nuts )
1/2 cup Smude's sunflower oil or another good tasting oil (or extra virgin olive oil )
3 tablespoons parmigiano reggiano (or another high quality parmesan you like)
A dash of lemon juice and grated zest. (optional, to taste )
Categories
Appetizer
Snack
Cuisine
Italian
Steps
Heat the oven to 350 or so, toast the sunflower seeds until they are aromatic and lightly golden, a few minutes. Cool and reserve.
Roughly chop the ramp leaves.
For a milder flavor, blanch half of the ramp greens in boiling water for a few seconds, then chill in a bowl of cold water and squeeze dry.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the chopped ramp leaves, toasted sunflower seeds, cheese, and oil. Begin the pureeing process by pulsing to break things up, then keep going until you get a smooth-ish paste.
After pureeing, if the pesto isn't creamy, fluffy and light, drizzle in some more oil and continue to puree until velvety smooth, this recipe is made for restaurant and highspeed blenders, if you don't have one, you may need to add small amounts of oil/liquid to get it smooth.
Add the lemon zest if using and lemon juice.
Check the seasoning and adjust as needed, then refrigerate or freeze.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 2 oz
Calories: 273 kcal
Carbohydrates: 4 g
Protein: 2 g
Fat: 28 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol: 3 mg
Sodium: 70 mg
Sugar: 1 g
Unsaturated Fat: 23 g
Reviews
Russ on 2026-04-29 (5 stars): I just watched the video and realized that you did not include any/many stems. I'm wondering if that explains why my result came out kind of 'hot' (more of a mild horseradish-type kick than hot pepper). I had some on my eggs this morning and it totally cleared my sinuses! I also noticed that the video mentioned adding lemon zest, but I don't think the recipe does.
Camille on 2025-05-16 (5 stars): I was finally able to forage ramps for the first time this year after years and years and years of only being able to purchase them from NYC farmers markets. I followed the ratios in this recipe exactly except I misread "sunflower seeds" for sesame seeds, which I already had in my pantry. So I subbed those instead. I blanched half of the ramps as directed. Made a bright and beautiful pesto! I did opt to include the lemon squeeze, and I also added a couple dashes of kosher salt at the end. I always freeze my basil pesto at the end of the summer by putting it into ice cube trays and then transferring the cubes into a ziplock bag to store in the freezer and preserve a taste of summer all throughout the winter. I've done the same with my ramp pesto and I'm excited to enjoy this taste of spring throughout the summer months! Thank you!
Erika on 2022-05-22 (5 stars): I tried this but subbed walnuts and olive oil for the sunflower ingredients. I found the resulting pesto very grassy, with very little allium aroma, although with some heat and sharpness in the taste. Is this to be expected? And will the grassiness mellow with age or if added to a recipe where it gets some additional heat (like tossing with hot cooked pasta)?
