Wednesday, June 19, 2013

the great scape!

 Scapes have arrived on all of our garlic plants! Early basil is close at its heels. This means PESTO! Fiery, garlicky, spring pesto... the kind that knocks your socks off. My children are pretty hardy and both eat it with gusto- so I'm keeping it stocked in the fridge for spreading on crackers, topping pizza, dolloping into soup, or tucking into paninis. So good!

If you're not growing your own, most farmer's markets are overflowing with it this time of year in the northeast.

Toss a few scapes into a food processor with a handful of walnuts, some grated parmesan cheese, a few basil leaves and a generous glog of olive oil. Proportions are loose... because with these simple and perfect ingredients you can't go wrong. Just have some crackers or carrot sticks at your side and taste as you go!


p.s. new post up over at Honoring Hope- click here.
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6 comments:

  1. That sounds amazing! I wouldn't have thought of it for pizza or crackers. I make pesto pasta regularly. I'll have to try it other ways too. I usually make it with pecans (because they're local) but sometimes I don't have them on hand & then I use sunflower seed (hulled of course) . Cheap & yummy!

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  2. <3 Garlic Scape Pesto - looking forward to making some this weekend!

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  3. I have never heard of scapes before...(I'm in Australia). It's winter here so unfortunately my basil plant is, well, sleeping right now. I miss making fresh pesto - nothing beats it!

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    1. Scapes are the curly part of the garlic plant that appears above ground in the spring. If you don't cut them off this is where the garlic flower will appear. Cutting them allows you some wonderful eating and lets the plant focus its energy on forming the garlic bulb (below ground) rather than the flower.

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  4. So inspiring. We will be moving from Singapore to rural upstate New York in a few weeks and I so look forward to growing some vegetables. After 22 years of apartment living in Asia I will finally have a garden! I will definitely keep checking out your blog for gardening tips and recipes.

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  5. Just made garlic scape bread this evening. Just threw the scapes and some butter into the cuisinart and pureed. Then spread that on bread and placed it under the broiler. Superb! There was a lot left over so I'm sure it will be appearing as a garnish on everything from potatoes to sandwiches in the coming days

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