This week we’re bringing you one of summer’s quirkiest (and tastiest) veggies, garlic scapes! These curly green stems are the flower stalks of hardneck garlic plants, and we snap them off so the garlic bulb underground can get nice and big.
With a gentle garlic flavour and a crunchy, tender bite, garlic scapes are like the cool cousin of green onions and garlic cloves. You can toss them on the grill, blitz them into pesto, chop them into stir-fries, or even pickle them for later. Scape season is short, so now’s the time to fill your fridge (and your belly)!
Easy-Peasy Garlic Scape Pesto
Perfect on pasta, toast, grilled veggies… or eaten by the spoonful. No judgment.
Ingredients:
1 bunch garlic scapes (about 1 cup, chopped)
1/3 cup nuts/seeds (sunflower seeds, walnuts, or pine nuts all work!)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt to taste
Instructions:
- Toss everything into a food processor or blender.
- Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Taste, adjust salt or lemon, and slather on everything.