Ramp, also known as spring onions, ramson, wild leeks, wild garlic, and, in French, ail sauvage and ail des bois, is an early spring vegetable with a strong garlicky odor and a pronounced onion flavor.  You can find the ramp in farmer’s markets.  There’s nothing like ramp to signal the arrival of spring, and I made a risotto with some sweet Italian sausage.  Recipe adapted from epicurious.com. The recipe is supposed to be for 4 people, but Ben and I polished it off pretty easily, and Ben could have eaten some more.  Also original recipe indicates 3 cups of stock, but the rice was not ready when 3 cups of stock was used up.  I ended up using 4 cups.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 1/2 pound hot Italian sausages, casings removed
• 12 ramps, trimmed; bulbs and slender stems sliced, green tops thinly sliced
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 4 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for passing

Instructions

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage. Cook until no longer pink, breaking up with spoon, about 5 minutes. Add sliced ramp bulbs and stems. Saut´ until almost tender, about 2 minutes. Add rice and stir 1 minute. Add vermouth. Simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute. Add 4 cups chicken broth, 1 cup at a time, simmering until almost absorbed before next addition and stirring often. Continue cooking until rice is just tender and risotto is creamy, adding more broth if dry and stirring often, about 18 minutes. Mix in green tops and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Season risotto to taste with salt and pepper. Serve, passing additional grated cheese separately.