It was time to trim the scapes off of my garlic yesterday, and they smelled sooo good and garlicky that I brought them inside and whipped up some garlic scape pesto. It was super simple and quick—and man-oh-man is it delicious.
Ingredients
10-12 garlic scapes, chopped into about 1” pieces
1/3 cup cashews
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
Salt and pepper {to taste}
1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil {depending on the consistency you like}
Directions
In a blender or food processor, puree the garlic scapes, cashews, and cheese. While the blender/food processor is running, slowly add in the olive oil. Puree until you have your desired consistency. {I used the full 3/4 cup}. Salt and pepper to taste.
If you are not ready to use it right away, check out my post on how to freeze pesto in muffin tins.
Want to learn more about Garlic? Check out The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide for Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks
Suzanne B says
This looks great……….what are the scapes ( the blooming stalk) and when should they be removed?
Mari says
What are scrapes?? It’s not a term I am familiar with. Pesto sounds divine so I would like to know.
Kathy says
I discovered garlic scapes a few years ago at a local farmer’s market. Man oh man does it make a good pesto! I was adding fresh basil and hemp seeds. No tree nuts for me, allergic but I do like the nutty flavor, hence the culinary hemp seed. This year I tried something different…arugula, spinach, garlic scape and the hemp seeds. Oh boy! It was delish! Thanks for reminding me how to freeze the pesto in smaller quantities as I’m the only one in my house who likes it. On Ohio City Pasta.
amy says
Funny! I just made the same thing… but I used roasted pine nuts.
Cynthia says
Scrapes are the flowering stalk of the garlic, before it bursts into full flower. If you don’t remove them, the bulbs will be smaller, but if you have a plot of garlic, leave a few scrapes on, as the flowers are useful to let you know when to harvest. They have a mild garlicky flavour and can be used in a number of ways. Onions also have scrapes – same story.
Pam says
When harvesting garlic scapes, I used to break them off but found a note on the web about gently pulling them out. So I tried that last season-it worked GREAT. You get like 1/3 more scape and the garlic doesn’t keep growing the scape stalk like it does when they’re broken-off harvested. Pull gently, they’re kind of rubbery feel and they’ll pull right out though it took more than a few to get the hang of it.