Garlic Scape Pesto

Confession: I feel as though I owe you a second recipe this week, given how blah the last one turned out.

And boy, do I ever have a good one for you! This is so amazing and downright addicting in fact that you may decide to forego the agonizing delay of enjoyment it causes you to take the time to spread this pesto on a cracker and just go at it with a spoon. Or a finger. Not that I have done that. I admit to nothing. Ahem.

Anyhoo, what the heck is a garlic scape? If you, like me, have spent most of your adult life buying produce in a grocery store, you may never have seen or heard of garlic scapes before. Simply put, a garlic scape is the green shoot that a garlic bulb produces as it begins to mature. It looks very much like a green onion and has a milder flavor than a garlic clove.



Farmers cut off the scapes because a scape left attached will stunt the growth of the garlic bulb, which of course is the part that is harvested and we purchase in the store as garlic. Garlic scapes are not merely edible, but are absolutely delicious! You can use them as you would green onions in any recipe. Hie thee to thy nearest farmers market and grab a bunch! You will not be disappointed, I promise.

One of the best uses I know for garlic scapes is to make a garlic scape pesto. It can be used on crackers, spread on bread as a condiment, used as a pizza or pasta sauce, dolloped on soups or salads, or just enjoyed with a spoon.

This is a recipe I conjured up off the top of my head. It's a little of this, a little of that, more art than science, following pretty much every pesto recipe I've ever seen. The basil serves to balance out the garlic flavor with an earthy freshness, and the walnuts and parmesan play off each other to add depth and richness to the pesto. I'm in love... I hope you will be, too!

Garlic Scape Pesto

1 bunch garlic scapes - a handful or so of long shoots, adjust to your taste*
1/4 c. fresh basil leaves**
1/2 c. walnuts
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/3 - 2/3 c. olive oil
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Roughly chop the garlic scapes and basil. Add to the bowl of a food processor and pulse for a few moments until they are finely chopped but not fully ground.





Add walnuts, cheese, salt and pepper, and grind until everything is coming together in a paste.



With the processor running, drizzle in olive oil until the pesto has reached the desired consistency. I like mine thicker, with less oil.




That's it! Enjoy any which way you desire.



*Absolutely everything in this recipe should have a note that says "to taste" - there is no right or wrong here!

**I used a combination of regular flat leaf basil and a variety called Cinnamon Basil that I have growing in pots in my yard. Just use whatever looks fresh and smells delicious at your market.

I've put about 2/3 of the batch in a freezer container, topped with a little extra oil to prevent oxidation (this is mostly to prevent me from eating the entire batch right now). I plan to pull it out and use it again later this summer and I'll update the post at that time with how it fared in the freezer. I'm hopeful that it will be fine; most of the articles I've read on pesto say the freezer is no challenge.


If you try this, let me know in the comments how it turned out!

In the meantime, I'm going to eat the rest of it with soup for supper and head back to my CSA farm to pick up some more scapes before they are gone for good!