14 Jun Eat Seasonally: Garlic Scape Pesto

We had interest in CSAs (We still have plenty available so let us know if you are interested… And, try to win your own by liking and sharing Bent Arrow Acres on Facebook!) We also had interest in the very in-season garlic scapes from local restaurants.

To me, this is all so cool. When Adam and I began to talk about expanding the farm we really wanted to do it so that we could expose more people to our products and they could use them to make great meals. That is exactly what is happening!

But, in the last week, one question kept coming up: What is a garlic scape? And, what the heck do you do with it?

A garlic scape is a shoot the grows out of the center of hardneck garlic. The shoot has a bit of a curl and the plant’s closed flower bud. The flower will not bloom but, if not removed from the plant, it will put it’s energy into the scape versus the bulb. This will cause the bulb to be small.

So, it’s something that has to come off the plant anyway, but it also doesn’t hurt that it’s delicious!

Garlic scapes have a mild garlic flavor with a little spice. I read somewhere that in cooking terms they are considered a vegetable, aromatic and herb all rolled into one.

Their season is fleeting, only lasting a few weeks each June, so we capitalize on it mixing them into everything from egg dishes to aioli. My favorite use is to make pesto with a big bunch of them. It can be frozen just like basil pesto or used right away on pizza or pasta.

Making the pesto is so simple and uses pantry staples. You could use nuts like pine nuts or walnuts, but I was inspired by the green and used up some pistachios. So vibrant and fabulous on pasta!

It seemed gourmet because of the somewhat fancy novelty ingredient… But, it was easy enough for a busy week night!

If you are interested in garlic scapes we are selling bunches for $2.00. Email me at bentarrowacres@gmail.com to arrange pick up at the farm. I will be in Indianapolis later this week if you can’t pick them up at the farm!