Up for the random food post? If not, I'll be back soon with quilty-content, but I had an experience over the weekend that felt worth documenting for my food-loving self.
"Garlic scapes are the curly, twirly, green flower stalks that emerge from the tops of garlic plants as they grow. They can be eaten cooked or raw, and they’re as fun to look at as they are to eat! Garlic scapes have a mild and subtle garlic flavor, softer than the bite you’d find in raw garlic cloves. This makes them exceptionally versatile anywhere in cooking where you would normally use garlic."
Often found primarily at farmers' markets, I was fortunate to find freshly cut garlic scapes on my kitchen counter over the weekend, thanks to hubby harvesting them from his herb garden.
Though I knew what they were, I didn't really know what to do with them. So I put out a call in my IG stories asking for suggestions, and I had several suggestions within minutes. Pesto was the overwhelming favorite, which sounded great to me. I tried the Garlic Scape Pesto recipe from NYT Cooking, substituting walnuts for the suggested sunflower seeds, as that's what I had on hand, and it was SO good.
Note: Charles @feltlikesweets told me he blanches scapes for 5-6 minutes before using in his favorite pesto recipe, replacing the basil. So I did blanch mine too, though the linked recipe above included both the scapes and basil in it. Just fyi.
That night, I served it over grilled chicken; the next night with rustic herb bread. I can't imagine anything it wouldn't be delicious on. Some of the other suggestions I got were:
- sauté in oil or butter
- use in soups or salad
- serve over firm white fish
- use on pizza in place of red sauce
- pickle them
- stir fry with other veggies
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