Several weeks ago I harvested the scapes from my garlic plants. You want the plant to send all of its energy into bulbs not into a flower producing seeds. So you cut the scapes off. They can be used in many ways, you can cut them up and use them in a stir fry or you can use them to make garlic scape pesto.
We tried some in a stir-fry with excellent results; they were tender and had just a slight garlic taste. The rest I decided to turn into pesto.
After searching around on the internet I found the following recipe on A Garden For The House.
Garlic Scape Pesto
Ingredients for about two cups:
9-10 garlic scapes, knobby seed-pods removed and discarded
1/2 cup (2.5 oz bag) slivered almonds
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Special Equipment – A food processor; a rubber spatula
Preparing the scapes – Rinse scapes in cold water, then roughly chop into half-inch pieces.
Processing — Pour scapes and slivered almonds into the bowl of your food processor. Blend for 30 seconds, or until a fairly smooth texture is achieved. Scrape down sides of bowl with your rubber spatula.
With the machine running, slowly add olive oil, and process until thoroughly incorporated, about 15 seconds. Then add the Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper, and blend for another 5 seconds. Taste carefully — you might like to add more salt and pepper.
Although this pesto is good freshly made, it is even better when refrigerated for several hours or overnight. Before chilling, place the pesto in a glass bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
This pesto can be frozen in an air tight container for up to three months.
This pesto is delicious on noodles.
Put a dollop on and mix it up.
Good to the last bite.
Nancy on the Home Front 