What On Earth Are Garlic Scapes?

Last October, I planted an entire raised bed of garlic.  You can read about how I did that here.  I planted two different varieties and have been anxiously waiting for them to grow.  I was especially excited to see the hard neck species, Kilarney Red develop it's scapes.  I've never grown a hard neck garlic before, but I wanted to see how it differs in taste from the soft neck (which is what you buy in the stores) and I really wanted to see those cool, twisty scapes.

Aren't they pretty?  The scapes are the flowering part of the garlic plant and if cut before the flower blossoms, they are tender and tasty.  Or so I'd heard.

 I just love the way they twist and curl up, each one creating it's own shape.

I almost hated to cut them, but the developing bulb benefits from the cutting of the scape, so I trimmed them off and brought them into the kitchen.  After searching online for a recipe,  I decided to make a batch of Garlic Scape Pesto, 'cause I loooove pesto!

First I washed the garlic scapes and fresh basil.  I used a combination of both for this pesto.

Then I cut off the flowering part of the scape and chopped the rest into small pieces, discarding the tough ends.

I toasted some pine nuts over low heat, but almost not low enough!  I have a bad habit of burning nuts when I toast them.  Thankfully, I was able to salvage these.

In my food processor, I pureed the scapes, basil, pine nuts and parmesan cheese.  Oh, forgot to mention the parmesan cheese, didn't I?  Even though I love parmigiano reggiano, I've started using a domestic parmesan for my pestos.  It's much less expensive and with the strong flavors of the basil and garlic, I don't think you can tell much of a difference.  I'll reserve the really good stuff for topping my pasta and salads.  The last thing that goes into pesto is the olive oil and I pour it into the top of the processor until the pesto is the consistency that I like.

Just about like....... this.

Pesto freezes beautifully, but I had immediate plans for this.  I made this fantastic pesto pizza one night and then a Tuscan tomato soup the next.  They were both divine.  I'll share that tomato soup recipe soon.  I promise.

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.

*I didn't use the parsley leaves, I just adapted this recipe, using equal amounts of scapes and basil.
This recipe is from this blog.