Seems I've been talking a lot about garlic scapes over the past few years. Here, here and here for example. I've shown you how to do everything from wearing them as a fashion accessory to creating flower arrangements with them.
What I *haven't* shown you is how to cook them. So today I shall rectify that. Yes. I think of the word rectum when I see "rectify" too. It's because we're immature.
I'll start with a refresher on what a garlic scape is. Each garlic plant grows one garlic scape. It's a round stem that grows from the centre of the hardneck garlic. In the early summer it shoots up forming a curly cue form the middle of the plant leaves. It has a small flower head on the end which, if left to its own devices will form a big flower.
BEFORE the scape turns into a flower you should cut the scape off of your garlic plant. For one thing because it allows the plant to distribute its energy to growing the bulb as opposed to the flower. And for another thing because you can eat those scapes. They're a delicacy that only comes once a year for a very short period of time. Like fiddleheads or ramps. Or a really funny Saturday Night Live skit.
I've been using scapes for 2 things in particular this season. My favourite being, garlic scape pesto. The other thing I'll tell you about in a post later this week.
Garlic Scape Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 cup rough chopped garlic scapes apx. 10 scapes
- ½ cup basil
- ½ cup toasted pine nuts
- ½ lemon juice & zest
- 1 teaspoon salt
- black pepper
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Toast pine nuts in a dry pan over medium/low heat for a few minutes. Toss them and turn them until they just start to brown.
- Pulse first 7 ingredients in food processor or blender (everything but the oil) until everything is chopped up.
- Slowly drizzle in oil with processor or blender running.
- Serve over linguine. (you can heat your pesto in a pan first if you like)
Notes
Nutrition
Samantha
This is the best pesto recipe I have ever made, and I make pesto out of everything. It freezes so well too! I thawed out a jar from last year and was eating it with a spoon and hiding it from my husband.
Samantha Kay Orient
I'm licking this pesto off the spoon. The lemon is key. I was going to pickle some delightfully knotted garlic scapes, but I'm probably just going to throw them in the food processor instead.
Karen
The lemon makes it. :) If you have enough to freeze a bunch, save it for January. It'll taste like summer! ~ karen
brenda
you got really fancy with your scape recipe ... I wondered if adding basil would be a good thing ... but lemon and especially lemon zest - that thing going on here ... wOwzer ... I made mine with just oil and salt (because I'm lazy) so I am going to squeeze a lemon on the pasta and grate some zest over it ... and throw some toasted nuts on it ... and some cheese ... and pour some wine and lock my doors
Larry
I have scape pesto once before and they are wonderful. We make other types pesto but don't add the cheese to the mixture until we use it. We found that the mixture without cheese will last in the freezer or refrigerator almost forever since their is no cheese. The cheese goes rancid and runins the batch
Kelly
Made a quadruple batch to freeze and WOW is it spicy hot! My garlic is super spicy hot too, but I wasn't expecting the scapes to be like that too. I'll have to see if putting on pasta calms it down.
Karen
Super spicy hot, lol? Really? I've never noticed mine to be like that! Mind you, I can eat raw jalapeno peppers so ... I'm not the best judge. But yes, it will mellow out after time in the freezer. :) ~ karen!
brenda
yes it's got a definite zip ... no pepper for me