At farm stands and farmers’ markets at this time of year you’ll find garlic scapes for sale. When I see people shopping for produce at those locales, some overlook those scapes because they’re not sure what they are or how to prepare them.
If that’s you, let me start by saying a garlic scape is the long, green, stem and flower bud that grows out from hard-necked types of garlic — the types of garlic typically grown in B.C. and other parts of Canada.
At some point during the growing season, those garlic scapes are harvested and doing that achieves two things. Firstly, it allows the plant to direct all its energy to the garlic bulb, causing it to grow larger and, a while later, reach its full size potential.
Harvesting the scapes, which look like firm, curled-up greens beans, also provides the farmer with a quality item they can bag and/or bundle up and sell to their customers. Garlic scapes have a taste often described as being like a blend of garlic, scallion and onion. A full of flavour, fresh green that you can use in ways such as these:
Egg dishes: Thinly slice garlic scapes and add them, as you might green onions, to such things as omelettes, frittatas and quiches.
Stir-fries: Cut garlic scapes, on the bias, and sizzle them in hot oil in a wok with other vegetables, seafood, chicken and/or meat. Garlic scapes are also something you could slice and add to fried rice.
Grill or roast them: Leave smaller garlic scapes whole, or cut larger ones into pieces, and grill or roast them with other vegetables, with such things as olive oil and herbs.
Flavoured butter: Mix minced garlic scapes with soft butter, roll in plastic wrap into log, chill until set, then slice and use as a topping for grilled fish, such as salmon, or beef steaks, such as rib eye and strip loin.
Pizza and breads: Slice and set garlic scapes on a pizza, or mix into a dough or batter for bread, such as foccacia or cornbread, before baking them.
Ground meat dishes: Mix thinly sliced garlic scapes into the ground meat you use for meatballs, burgers and meatloaf.
Soups: Slice, add and simmer garlic scapes in soups, such as onion soup, minestrone or borscht, or a pureed soup, such as potato and leek or asparagus.
Salads: Slice and add garlic scapes to salads, such as potato salad, pasta salad and coleslaw.
Hot and cold sauces: Thinly slice and add or blend garlic scapes into cold sauces, such as salsa, chimichurri, salsa verde and aioli. Slice, sauté and simmer garlic scapes in hot sauces you toss pasta into, such as marinara sauce or alfredo sauce.
Garlic Scape Pesto
Another way to use garlic scapes is to blend them into pesto. Use this pesto as you would other types of pesto, by tossing it into hot pasta, topping a pizza with it, flavouring and roasting potatoes with it, or mixing it with mayonnaise and using it as a spread for an Italian-style sandwich. You could also serve the pesto as an appetizer as shown in the recipe photo, with grilled, sliced sausages, goat or other soft cheese, grilled garlic scapes and sliced baguette.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: None
Makes: about 1 1/2 cups
1 cup garlic scapes, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces (about 8 to 12 garlic scapes, depending on size; see Note)
2/3 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp whole, blanched almonds
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more, if needed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Place scapes, basil, almonds and juice in a food processor and pulse until chopped and well combined. Add the 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp oil and process until well blended. Mix in the cheese and salt and pepper, to taste. Add a bit more oil if you find the pesto too thick. Refrigerate the pesto in a tightly sealed jar with a skim of olive oil on top until needed. It will keep several days. This pesto could be also frozen in ice-cube trays, unmoulded and kept frozen in a freezer bag or container until needed.
Note: I bought the garlic scapes used in this recipe at Sea Dog Farm in Saanichton (seadogfarm.ca). You’ll also find them for sale at some other farms with farm stands and at farmers’ markets.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
