Garlic Lovers Unite!
I love a good two for one and garlic delivers every time!
This bulb is used to flavor foods the world over, and one of the best kept secrets about garlic is the garlic scape!
Because of the way hardneck garlic grows there are two chances to harvest deliciousness. We all know about garlic cloves, technically the bulb, harvested in late summer… but the beautiful reed like stalks shooting up and the single flower stalk that shoots up from the center, around midsummer in my region, are a delicacy known as the scape.
The garlic scape is slightly milder and somehow ‘brighter’ than the underground cloves. They can be eaten raw or cooked with the flavor changing drastically after heating. I enjoy eating them in a few different ways. In a garlic scape pesto (recipe below), grilling them with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice- when they magically taste like asparagus, or fermenting for a spicy mid-winter snack.
They show up around midsummer in farmers markets, but the surest way to gather garlic scapes is to grow your own!
For ALL the Details on Planting Garlic, Read my Growing Great Garlic post.
Harvesting Garlic Scapes
Once the garlic scapes have curled around and you can see where a flower will emerge from, it’s time to get snipping. The softer the scape, the more tender eating- so you take them when you want, depending on your end goals… I usually harvest almost all at once, so I get a variety of maturity, I use the larger ones in pesto, and the smaller ones I grill or ferment.
*You will also want to snip off the flower tips and add to the compost as the buds can harbor bad bacteria and I just don’t dig the texture*
Garlic Scape Pesto Recipe
Ingredients:
1 Cup + of garlic scapes, chopped
½ Cup Basil
Juice ½ lemon
½ tsp+ salt
½ C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ Cup sunflower seeds or pine nuts
¼ C grated Parmesan / Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Instructions:
Place scapes in food processor (or Ninja) and pulse to chop finely, add all ingredients but the olive oil and pulse until well combined. Then drizzle in (or add in batches to Ninja) olive oil. Try to freeze half for a mid-winter burst of summer flavor! *If using raw seeds or nuts, toast before using.
What’s your favorite way to enjoy garlic scapes?
Dig in!
Michelle
