One of the unusual things you might find at the farmers’ market this month is garlic scapes, the long green flower stalks found on hardneck garlic.  Farmers cut off these scapes so that the plant’s energy concentrates in the bulb, but you can cook with the scapes, too, and enjoy fresh garlicky flavor before the year’s crop of mature garlic comes in.  This recipe for a super garlicky pesto comes from Karen Geiser and Jennifer McMullen and their November 2011 class on Gourmet Garlic.  Try it tossed with pasta, spread on crostini, or as a kicky sandwich spread!

Tip: Garlic scapes can be a pain to cut if you’re making a big batch of pesto.  Go easy on your wrist and swap your knife out for a pair of kitchen shears to make the task go more quickly!

Garlic Scape Pesto

Samples from Gourmet Garlic class; pesto shown in front

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. chopped garlic scapes
• 1/2 c. walnuts
• 2 T. Parmesan or blue cheese, shredded or crumbled
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a small food processor and process until mixture creates a slightly chunky paste.  Add more olive oil if needed to create the right texture.

Store pesto in the refrigerator up to 1 week or spoon into ice cube trays, freeze, and store in sealed bags in the freezer up to 8 months.

Related Products

To help you make delicious food using quality tools and ingredients, we recommend the following items that you might find useful:

• Small food processor by KitchenAid
• Chop2Pot cutting board by Joseph Joseph
• Kitchen shears by Wusthof