It's happening right now! Garlic scapes are coming on strong in CSA boxes and at your local Farmers Market! Beautiful, curly green shoots of delicious garlic flavor. But what do you do with them? Start with this easy, garlic-y Garlic Scape Pesto...
When the CSA box has scapes, you make pesto!
It is no secret that I am a serious pesto fan. Everyone has their own favorite recipe for standard Pesto, including our family. Because of my love of any and all pesto that can be made, you will also find delicious recipes for Radish Top Pesto. And this Carrot Top Pesto. What a delicious way to make the most of all the garden crops as the growing season is completed. But this recipe marks two firsts. One is cooking with scapes. And two, is making Garlic Scape Pesto!
The one way that Carrot Top Pesto, Radish Top Pesto along with Garlic Scape Pesto are all the same, is they can all be use in the same manner. They are delicious tossed with hot cooked pasta for a side dish that everyone will love. Stirred into soup and anywhere you enjoy pesto. Because pesto can be used in so many additional ways. Even smeared on a grainy cracker is delicious! But that is where the similarities end, because each is individual in flavor, as well as the time of harvest.
Looking for more ways to enjoy pesto? How about these ideas!
Because you will enjoy the rich flavor that pesto will add to your meals, I thought I would share some of our favorite ways that we use pesto.
1. When making pizza, use pesto in place of the standard red sauce.
2. Add a tablespoon of pesto to your favorite vinaigrette recipe.
3. Top your favorite spaghetti recipe, with pesto before tossing. This easy and delicious One Pot Pantry Pasta with Ground Beef is easy enough for a work night dinner and perfect with a spoonful of pesto over the top!
4. Roll bread dough up (cinnamon roll style) with pesto before baking.
5. Make grilled burgers, spreading on some pesto before adding a slice of cheese!
6. Drizzled into vegetable or bean soup.
Whatever you do, make some Garlic Scape Pesto before the season ends...The recipe as written is perfect to toss with one pound of pasta. Should you have leftovers, it is delicious the next day served cold as a pasta salad. And the best part? This Garlic Scape Pesto is perfect to make now and store in the freezer. Nothing will brighten your winter meals more...other than having lots of different flavors of pesto at the ready.
Ingredients needed for this recipe:
- fresh garlic scapes
- Parmesan Cheese
- walnuts or pinenuts
- lemon juice
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
You may also need the following:
- cutting board
- kitchen knife
- measuring spoons
- measuring cups
- food processor
- silicone spatula
- storage container or jar with a tight-fitting lid.
Now we are ready to begin!
Garlic Scape Pesto
adapted from vanilla and bean
10 garlic scapes
1/3 c Parmesan Cheese
1/3 c chopped walnuts or pinenuts
1/8 t salt
few grinds of pepper
1/2 lemon juiced, about 2 T
1/3 to 1/2 c olive oil
Clean the scapes, remove and discard the top bulb area. Cut scapes into one-inch pieces, you will have about 2/3 cup.
Place the cut scape pieces into the processing bowl of your food processor. Add the Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Add the olive oil starting with 1/3 cup and begin processing. Add the additional oil up to 1/2 cup total if needed.
During processing, you want a creamy texture, the pesto should come together, yet move easily while being processed. Begin processing.
Stop the food processor as needed, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Process until creamy, but do stop allowing for a bit of texture, just like with any pesto.
If not used right away, transfer to a freezer container with a tight-fitting lid, and freeze until needed.
Storage options for Garlic Scape Pesto. Keep frozen until needed, thaw in the refrigerator.
UPDATE:
For your convenience, a "copy and paste" version of Garlic Scape Pesto has been
included below.
You may also enjoy:
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#DIYfrozenconvenience!
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Printable "copy and paste" version:
Garlic Scape Pesto
adapted from vanilla and bean
10 garlic scapes
1/3 c Parmesan Cheese
1/3 c chopped walnuts or pinenuts
1/8 t salt
few grinds of pepper
1/2 lemon juiced, about 2 T
1/3 to 1/2 c olive oil
Clean the scapes, remove and discard the top bulb area. Cut scapes into one-inch pieces, you will have about 2/3 cup.
Place the cut scape pieces into the processing bowl of your food processor. Add the Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Add the olive oil starting with 1/3 cup and begin processing. Add the additional oil up to 1/2 cup total if needed.
During processing, you want a creamy texture, the pesto should come together, yet move easily while being processed. Begin processing.
Stop the food processor as needed, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Process until creamy, but do stop allowing for a bit of texture, just like with any pesto.
If not used right away, transfer to a freezer container with a tight-fitting lid, and freeze until needed.
Storage options for Garlic Scape Pesto. Keep frozen until needed, thaw in the refrigerator.
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oh I had some beautiful scapes growing until we had the heat wave. They all burned. Pinning this for when I can find some!! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party! Have a great week and Happy 4th of July!
ReplyDeleteThis was my first time working with Scapes, and I love them! Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.
DeleteI have never heard of scapes before. I don't think we can get them here.
ReplyDeleteThey are the green "sprout" that grows above the ground, when trimmed off, the energy is sent to the bulb, trimming promotes large heads of garlic. They are tasty, should you get a chance to find them or ask a garlic grower to harvest some for you.
DeleteGARLIC SCAPES!!!! Love, love, love and love -- I await their return to our farmers' markets eagerly. And pesto is the best.
ReplyDeleteThey have been in our CSA box two weeks running, this last batch I made Fresh Oregano and Garlic Scape Pesto, yikes, so good.
Delete