Garlic Scape Pesto with Pasta – What in the World are Garlic Scapes?!

What in the world are garlic scapes?  I never heard of garlic scapes until last fall when I planted 52 garlic bulbs and researched how to grow and harvest garlic.  I am loving garlic scapes!  I find that the scapes have a garlic flavor, but are slightly milder than the actual cloves.  I also made garlic scape hummus which I enjoyed immensely.  Give this Garlic Scape Pesto a try … it is habit forming.  Enjoy!

What in the world are garlic scapes?

source:  garlicfarmct.com

Garlic scapes, or flower stalks, emerge from hard-necked varieties of garlic–normally in June in Connecticut. The stalks wind up as they grow and form eccentric curlicues. Snipping off the scapes before the flowerheads mature allows the plant to direct more energy into the developing garlic bulb, and so we snip them off for a garlic scape harvest in mid-June.

When the garlic scapes are still in full curl, they are tender and succulent. They have a garlicky taste that is milder than the eventual garlic cloves, with the tender snap of just-picked asparagus. In fact, we often say that you can prepare garlic scapes pretty much any way you’d use asparagus–and more.

The garlic scape is an allium delicacy that is highly prized and traditionally used in Southern and Eastern European cuisines, along with Middle Eastern, Korean, and other Asian cuisines, which all value its subtly vegetal garlic flavor and tender-crisp texture.

Garlic scapes have many uses, from soup to salads to garnishes: grill, stir fry, use them raw on salads, blend them into hummus or habit-forming scape pesto (with or without other herbs), add them to tempura, soups, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, pasta dishes, and more. They work well as a main dish or on the side.”

Garlic Farm Legacy Scape Pesto Recipe

• 1 cup (or less) freshly grated Parmesan cheese or other sharp Italian cheese
• 1–2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice, adjusted to taste
• 1/4 pound roughly chopped scapes
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt to taste

Puree scapes, olive oil, and juice in a blender or food processor until nearly smooth. (You can make a smooth paste if you prefer, but most people like a little texture in the pesto.) Gently stir in the cheese or gingerly pulse the cheese into the mixture; take it easy as you mix in the cheese to avoid making the pesto gummy by overblending. Taste and then adjust juice and salt to taste.

Store in the refrigerator to use within two or three days; freeze for longer storage. Scape pesto freezes well, and it holds its appealing green color when frozen even better than the traditional basil pesto.

I sautéed grape tomatoes and mushrooms in the pesto and added grilled chicken and tossed it with Penne pasta.

Pasta Salad

This is my husband’s favorite salad! He could eat this every day of the week! I make this with about 4-5 cloves of garlic (we love garlic!) The fresh basil and garlic really make this salad stand out!  I have used penne pasta and my homemade bow ties with excellent results. Enjoy!

Pasta Salad with Mozzarella, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Olives
Bon Appétit | August 2000

Yield: Makes 8 servings

6 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon drained capers
1 garlic clove, minced

1 pound fusilli pasta
12 ounces tomatoes, coarsely chopped
8 ounces fresh water-packed mozzarella cheese, drained, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
1/2 cup minced pitted oil-cured black olives

Blend first 5 ingredients in processor until tomatoes are coarsely chopped. Set dressing aside.
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer to large bowl. Add dressing to hot pasta; toss to coat. Cool, stirring occasionally. Add chopped fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, Parmesan and olives; toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Rosemary Garlic Rolls

This “Sweet Roll Dough” is a recipe my mother gave me.  I have such wonderful childhood memories of my mother baking every Saturday morning and helping her.  She taught me to bake and I always looked forward to helping – it was our time together in the kitchen.  Usually when we had “company” for dinner or for the holidays she would bake cloverleaf dinner rolls with this recipe.  I could easily eat 3 or 4 of them, they were that good!  She also made cinnamon rolls as a special treat.  What would we do without our Mothers?  I know I am lucky to have the mother I do – thank you for this favorite recipe for “Sweet Roll Dough” and for all the special memories!

I was making tortellini soup and still had some rosemary in my garden to use up and thought a rosemary garlic roll would be a perfect accompaniment.  This recipe is very versatile and I’ve used it for cloverleaf dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls and now garlic rosemary rolls.

Sweet Roll Dough (Cloverleaf  Dinner Rolls)

Measure into bowl – ½ cup warm water (not hot) add, stirring to dissolve 2 packages of dry yeast.

 Stir in the following:

•  1-1/2 Cup lukewarm milk
• ½ Cup sugar
• 2 Teaspoons salt
• 2 eggs
• ½ Cup shortening
• 7 – 7-1/2 Cups flour

 Mix with spoon until smooth.  Add enough remaining flour to handle easily.  Mix with hands.  Turn onto lightly floured board; knead until smooth and elastic (approximately 10 minutes).  Round up in greased bowl, greased side up.  Cover and let rise in warm place until double (approximately 1-1/2 – 2 hours).

Punch down and round into balls, placing three balls into muffin tins. Cover and let rise until double (approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour).

 Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

For rosemary garlic rolls I followed the recipe above except instead of shaping into balls I rolled the dough into a rectangle and spread a mixture of chopped garlic and rosemary, with softened butter onto the dough.  I then rolled the dough and cut slices to make the rolls and let rise for approximately 1 hour.

The scent that filled the kitchen was heavenly and the taste was divine!  Enjoy!