It’s May, so I’m putting ramp pesto in everything!!
Last week it was a great pasta dish, and today it is biscuits. Because baking up a batch of biscuits is already a good idea. Now it’s even better, thanks to ramp pesto and cheddar cheese. And since I had extra ramp leaves, these got chopped up and added to the biscuit dough as well!
Does it Need to be RAMP Pesto?
Short answer is NO! Use your favourite pesto, or even from a jar of store bought. In my Ramp Pesto Master Recipe, I encourage you to use whatever is available to make this tasty and garlicky condiment. Whether it is the classic basil, or baby spinach, broccoli, spring peas, or even carrot tops, pesto can be made out of almost anything green! But if you have the good fortune to come across ramps, whether at the market, or in your walks out in the wild at this time of the year, ramp pesto is pretty special. That same recipe link above explains some of the responsible foraging techniques that we should be employing all through the growing season. There is even a link to foraging, no matter where you live. So whether you live in Britain where they call ramps wild garlic (here in North America we call it wild leeks) or up here in Ontario, Canada, we can find great pleasure in bringing home just enough ramps to enjoy for the season. Whichever pesto you use, make sure it isn’t too runny. It should be on the thick side so as not affect the texture of the dough. Or else be prepared to add a bit more flour to make up for it.
The Type of Cheese for These Biscuits
I used cheddar today, but a good grating of fresh Parmigiano Reggiano, or Pecorino Romano would work equally well. So would Beemster, Gouda, Jarlsberg, Emmental or Gruyere. Any cheese that has a good presence and some melting ability would be great. Here’s one of my weird cheese hacks: there’s always a container of grated cheese in the cheese drawer. But it isn’t just one type of cheese. As the cheese pieces start to get towards the end, but are perfectly fine for melting, I grate them up and keep topping the container up. Give it all a good toss to combine, and it becomes my master cheese stash. It works great for grilled cheese, mac n cheese, topping for nachos, tacos etc, and of course baking. And if you think you may not get to all the cheese in time, just store it in the freezer!
Small Batch Biscuits
This is one of my favourite parts about this recipe. It only makes about 8 biscuits!! Perfect if you want to serve them with soup or chilli. Or if you want to have them for breakfast. And if it is only one or two of you at home, freeze half. Biscuits freeze perfectly. These guys have the best layers, thanks to a good routine of folding the dough. And if you want to roll the final layer to about 1/2-3/4 inches, and use a smaller cutter, of course you can get more biscuits. Great for a charcuterie or cheese board!
I made these biscuits with Cup4Cup Gluten Free flour blend, from Thomas Keller. This blend always comes through for me when I want to bake up something last minute. It works for cookies, cakes, pancakes, waffles, muffins, and obviously biscuits. But of course, you can take the recipe below as is, and use all purpose wheat flour! I used kefir for the acid in this recipe. But feel free to use buttermilk or even thinned out plain yogurt. And if you don’t have fresh ramp leaves to add in, chop in the same amount of your favourite fresh herbs, like basil, parsley or dill.
More Ramp Love: check out Ramp and Sea Asparagus Frittata, Pickled Ramps, Asparagus Fettuccine with Ramp Pesto,
Love Jen
Pesto and Cheddar Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour you can use a cup for cup gluten free replacement flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 tbsps unsalted butter chilled or even frozen for a few minutes
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar or other favourite shredded cheese
- 2 tbsp ramp pesto see Notes
- 1 oz ramps green parts only, chopped, about 6 medium leaves (optional) See Notes
- 1 large egg cold
- 1/2 cup kefir cold, more if needed, can use buttermilk
- Maldon salt for finishing.
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 425F. Prepare a baking sheet with a layer of parchment paper.
-
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium to large bowl.
-
Use the large holes of your box grater to grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture. Mix the butter in with your finger tips just until you have coarse breadcrumbs.
-
Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese, pesto and ramps. Mix through until it’s well combined.
-
Whisk the egg and kefir together in a small bowl or jar. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture. Use a spatula to mix everything until you get a just sticky dough. If it's too wet, add flour, 1 tbsp at a time. The humidity in the air, even time of year can affect how your flour absorbs the liquids. If it is too dry, add a bit more kefir.
-
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll it out into a rectangle. It should be about 9 inches by 6 inches.
-
Using a bench scraper, fold the right third of the dough over the center, then fold the left third over so you get a business letter. Roll it out gently with a floured rolling pin.
-
Fold the top and bottom across the centre before rolling it again.
-
Repeat one more time if desired. Roll final time to about 3/4 inches thick.
-
Use a 2 to 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter tipped into flour to cut out biscuits, pushing straight down and never twisting. Re-form the scraps of dough and continuing to cut out biscuits until the dough is all used up. You should get 8 biscuits. Of course you can roll the dough a little thinner and use a smaller cutter.
-
Put the biscuits on the baking sheet, with the edges almost touching. Brush the top with any remaining egg and kefir liquid. If you don't have enough leftovers, whisk an egg with a splash of kefir or buttermilk.
-
Sprinkle the flakey salt over each biscuit.
-
Bake the biscuits for 12-15 minutes until well risen and golden brown.
-
Remove and cool on a rack for 10 minutes before serving.
-
To re-warm, never use a microwave. In a 300F oven for 6-8 minutes is good.
Recipe Notes
If you want to use my Ramp Pesto, here is the recipe.
Feel free to use any pesto. If it is a runny pesto, try draining it a bit. Or adjust by adding a bit more flour.
The ramp leaves are totally optional, especially if you are baking these up in November! You can replace the ramps with fresh parsley or basil leaves.
Freeze on a baking sheet till chilled through and then store them in a freezer bag.
Recipe is inspired by Wild Garlic Ramp Scones by Vy Tran over at Beyond Sweet and Savory
These are absolutely amazing!!!!!! I am obsessed with this recipe. I also think I am going to try and make a sweet version and finely chop strawberries and sprinkle some sugar on top. We shall see. Thank you for all the awesome recipes!!
Hi Mary, thanks so much for your feedback! It’s such a versatile recipe, isn’t it! Any chance you could give the recipe a rating? It really helps with Google and Pinterest searches! Thanks! Have a super weekend, Love Jen
Amazing
Hi Mary, Yay, thanks so much. Have a super week! Love Jen
Hello, and thanks for all the info on your site. I’m hoping to make these cheddar-ramp biscuits ahead for a weekend trip. Can the dough be made ahead, refrigerated, and baked two days later? Is it better to freeze the unbaked dough? Either way, is it better to leave the dough in a flat rectangle (i.e., not cut) or to cut biscuits out before chilling/freezing? Many thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!
Hi Liz, apologies for the delay in replying. You can make the dough ahead of time and wrap well and chill. If you are going to freeze them, then I would cut them first. Wrap individually to keep from sticking to each other. Hope this helps, Love Jen