So garlic scapes are only available in June huh? Well tell that to my organic fruit and veg delivery people who delivered a heaping bag of them last week… Hmmm… what to do with them???
Then all of a sudden as I was reading Megan’s blog over on The Sweet Spoonful where she posted about pesto, I remembered that I had found a garlic scape pesto recipe sometime back in June when I couldn’t find them anywhere here in Toronto… A bit more Google Reader action revealed that Maria from Fresh Eats had made the said pesto, based on a recipe that originally appeared on Dorie Greenspan’s site.
So simple yet so flavourful – you roughly chop the scapes and puree them with the almonds, parmesan and olive oil:
Our Cuisinart wasn’t cooperating so well that night so our pesto came out a little chunky but that was fine. I heated it up a little:
And served it on whole wheat spaghetti with chopped fresh tomatoes (no, not ours…):
Delicious:
And colourful! Like the green garlic we had earlier in the summer, it was garlicky in the mouth but the taste didn’t linger for hours afterwards, which was nice…
I see they’re still on offer with our organics people – guess the weird cold weather this summer just threw them off schedule a bit. If you see them, buy them and try this recipe!
Interesting indeed. I hope to find some of these at the farmers market this weekend. Fingers cross!
Penny, not sure it's the right time of year down there but hey, with the seasons all messed up these days who knows??? Good luck and post if you find them. I think they would go well with Asian flavours too..
I've never seen garlic scapes here in Spain… I'm really curious about them. The pesto looks yummy!
Miriam – definitely worth keeping an eye out for!
It's 9:45 a.m. and now my mouth is watering for garlic scape pesto pasta with tomatoes.
LOL MenuManiac!
I wish I had seen this when I got garlic scapes from my CSA this summer – I grilled them whole and didn't like the flavor at all – would have definitely loved your recipe though!
I'll save it for next year! 😀
Well there's always next year!
Hey girl-
Thanks for the shout-out. This looks really nice! I hadn't heard of garlic scapes before, but now they're on my radar…
Thanks for the shout-out! Glad you enjoyed it. Dorie delivers, doesn't she?
One of my favorite farmers at Eastern Market in Detroit still has loads of scapes – he told me they grew tons of extra this year to meet the demand.
If you grow garlic, the scape will shoot up from the center of the plant. If you pick it, it apparently makes the garlic bulb healthier and stronger.
Megan and Maria – you are welcome!
I've seen them in the farmers market but never knew what to do with them! great idea!!!!!
How interesting, I had never seen this type of garlic…
Mary Laure – the garlic scape is actually the stalk of the garlic that you cut off.
Chinese Girl – give it a try – you will be pleasantly surprised with the taste!
I listened to all who said this was available only early in the season. Gaaah! I stopped looking for them – wonder what I've missed? This looks delicious!
Tangled Noodle – keep your eye out for it!
Looks excellent with pasta! you were lucky to get the garlic scapes now! I had some back in June and also made pesto with them.
5 Star – I think the whacky weather might have something to do with having such late scapes…
i've never even heard of these, but if i do ever see them in the market, i am totally getting them – your pesto looks delicious!