Garlic Scape Pesto

Have you ever seen a field of garlic scapes blowing in the breeze? It's an awesome sight. I could barely believe they were real the first time I saw them growing -- the crazily curling shoots seemed like some wonderfully whimsical cosmic joke.

For those of you who are not yet familiar with this charming-looking treat, the garlic scape is the flower shoot of the hard-necked garlic plant (there are two basic varieties of garlic - hard-necked and soft-necked but the soft-necked kind does not produce scapes).

As it shoots up, it begins to loop around and form these wonderful curlicues before the flower at the end opens. They can also double as avant-garde jewelry -- Medusa would've loved these babies...

If you're growing hard-necked garlic (it's so easy to grow your own garlic - you should try it!), you want to cut the scapes off before the flowers open as that will preserve more energy for the plant to make the bulb (a.k.a. the head of garlic you'll harvest in a month or two) bigger.

But don't throw them away once you've snipped them 'cause garlic scapes are also good to eat. They have a nice flavor that is garlicky (shocker, huh?) but mellower than mature garlic. You can stir-fry them, steam them and eat with butter, pickle them (post coming soon!), sautee them and MAKE PESTO OUT OF THEM!

We had a rather large bunch of these after our first CSA pick up of the year because I had lost my head at the Kingston Farmers Market over the weekend before the pick up and bought a big bunch of them (not realizing they'd be included in our share.) This seemed like the perfect time to make pesto since we had enough scapes to freeze some, too.

Although you can make pesto with just the scapes, I chose to add a lot of herbs as I like the added flavor and also tend to find the scapes by themselves rather intensely garlicky.

As with any pesto, amounts and ingredients are delightfully flexible (I always feel a little silly posting a "recipe" for something as basic as pesto...) I had recently made chimichurri (another magical green sauce...) so I used some of the leftover mint, basil, parsley, and oregano I had on hand. And of course lots of pinenuts (almonds or walnuts would be good, too), Parmesan cheese, olive oil and salt.

The resulting pesto is herby with a decidedly allium-induced kick to it! Toss with pasta or roasted veggies, drizzle over grilled chicken, smear on some crusty bread and eat with fresh mozzarella or goat cheese, and more. Don't be shy!

Garlic Scape Pesto

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients (these are all approximate!)

* 1/2-1 cup fresh, washed basil leaves
* 1/2-1 cup fresh, washed parsley leaves (you can also add or sub in oregano, cilantro, mint, etc.)
* 1-2 cups garlic scapes, both ends removed (you want to cut the flower end off as well as the lower part of the stem since it will have gotten rather hard since picking), and chopped into lengths
* 2-3 Tbsps pine nuts (or toasted almonds or walnuts)
* 2 tsps salt (or more to taste)
* Freshly ground black pepper to taste
* At least 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

1. Put the scapes, herbs, pine nuts, salt, pepper and cheese in the bowl of a food processor.

2. Process, adding the oil a bit at a time, until desired consistency. Taste and adjust the salt and cheese accordingly.

3. Use right away or store in an airtight container in the fridge - it should keep for about two weeks. You can also freeze any extra pesto in an ice cube tray and then transfer to a freezer bag for much longer-term storage.

You might also like:

• Grow Your Own Garlic
• Pickled Garlic Scapes
• Chimichurri Sauce - Argentinian and Addictive...
• Wild Ramp & Parsley Pesto

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