Pickled Wild Leeks or Ramps

My daughter came up north this weekend, and since there were still morels on the front lawn, and lots of wild leeks in the woods, suggested a repeat performance of last week's dinner, complete with cheese.  Because Claire has been off dairy lately, I hadn't anticipated this and was short of Parmesan cheese.  This tuned out to be one of those happy accidents because this week's risotto turned out to be better than last week's.  I am not sure about blog etiquette, however, I have gone back and adjusted the risotto recipe to reflect the reduced cheese.

When digging leeks for the risotto, I noticed the first of the buds were starting to form on the ramps.  This is the first sign of the end of the leek season. Time is running out to preserve ramps, so picked Ramps became the weekend project.

Pickled Wild Leeks (Ramps) will turn a pale pink as they age

I like to pickle the leek bulbs with no seasoning, to allow for more flexibility when using them later. I save the leek greens to use in salads or sauté and serve as a side.

Ingredients

• 50 to 60 wild leeks
• 1/2 cup of white vinegar
• 1/3 cup of rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 250 ml wide mouthed canning jars

Clean wild leeks and cut off greens just above the bulb. Save greens for another use.
Place leek bulbs in a sterilized jar.
Mix vinegars, salt and sugar together in a stainless steel pot and bring to the boil.
Fill jar to 1/2" from top and screw on lid.
Process jar in boiling water for 20 minutes. Tighten lid and store in a dark place until ready to use.  These are best after a couple of weeks.


If you are pickling more than a few bottles, experiment with different spices in some of the bottles.  A half teaspoon of picking spices with a small Tai chili pepper in each  bottle works well.  


And it goes without saying that it is very important to only harvest a very small portion of any wild leek patch, as they take years to develop.  I have read, I forget where, that a large leek bulb may be 20 years old.  I transplanted a patch of wild leeks from the country to the city under some large trees, and while they come up every year, the patch is only a tiny bit larger after 5 years.