Late Night Quiche

My mother said she had some ramps for me on Sunday and when could she drop them off. I was only vaguely aware of what ramps are, I thought they were a green associated with spring and that was sort of true, more on that later. Anyway, she was in a hurry, I told her not to rush and she said soon, though, soon, they're fresh! She was so excited about them that I made a point to scurry over the next day to get them. But I had no clue what to do with them.

So, ramps, or Allium trociccum, are indeed associated with spring but they're not a green like lettuce or arugula that you'd want to nibble on in your salad. No, ramps are in the onion family and commonly known as wild leeks. The bulbs are much smaller though and the greens much leafier and less fibrous. Apparently they are considered a delicacy in Appalachia and in famers' markets all over Manhattan. They're the ingredient du jour.

I very simply prepared them in a quiche that was deeeelicious, using both the bulbs and the greens, adding some cherry tomatoes and cheese. I call this late night quiche because, being the genius that I am, I decided to whip this up at 10pm last night when I got home and had to stay up late wating for it to bake. It would also probably be a good late night snack or I thought so when it came out of the oven anyway.

1 9 inch pie crust, make your own or buy it, take help where you can get it
4-5 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1 bunch of ramps, cleaned and trimmed (use all the bulbs and about 1 cup chopped leaves)
1/2 quart cherry tomatoes
4 oz goat cheese (I know you don't like that Mamma, sub cream cheese or ricotta)
Salt and pepper

Have you made a quiche? This is easy. Preheat the oven to 350. Saute ramps and tomatoes. Whisk eggs and milk together. Dump everything else in. Bake for about 35minutes or until you can see the quiche set up and get golden. This probably would have been great with basil but alas, I had none.