Springtime on a Toast

Someone reacted to this dish as “Springtime on Toast” and aptly so. Nothing celebrates the bounty of sprint in wisconsin as arrivals of the ramps first followed by morel mushrooms.

There is a week or two window when both are available at the same time.

Last weekend was the one where i found both in good quality this spring of 2019.

Leek and Morels Pesto for the toast

Leeks and morels pesto is subtle and luxurious. Start by washing the ramps. We used most of the leaves from the ramps and blanched them by putting them for a few seconds in rolling salted boiling water followed by draining and cooling in iced water. We brushed the morels clean and used the stems for the pesto. We sautéed the stems a bit on butter. Then we ground the ramps and morel stems with some sea salt and walnut oil we had on hand. Its okay to use olive oil instead.

Morels and Ramps Toast Assembly

We chopped the morels and the bulbs of the ramp and sautéed them on some butter and in another pan we grilled a couple of slices of baguette on both sides on slow heat.

Then when the morels were sautéed and slightly caramelized we added some chopped leaves of ramps and let them gently melt. Then we spooned some pesto on the toasts, and topped with the morels and ramps. Garnish with some flaky sea salt.

The sweet and subtle garlicky flavors of ramps and slightly fresh flavors of the ramp leaves go really well with the earthy and nutty concentrated morel flavors that come from sautéing. A bite is followed by another till you only have some crumbs on your plate.