Garlic Scapes Who Knew?

Most people do not know that a hard neck garlic will produce a false flower.  Hard neck garlic actually has a much stronger flavor than most store bought garlic.  So if you like a strong garlic flavor like I do, try to find hard neck garlic, or better yet, grow it yourself!  The false flower of the hard neck garlic usually gets cut off and discarded.  But what one doesn't know is that it is full of a great garlic flavor and very tasty!  At my garden at work, we grow about 10 rows of garlic.  Now garlic is a very special plant.  You actually plant it in the middle of October, cover the soil with a little bit of straw and let it grow all the way till the following June, when it decides to produce a false flower.  This false flower looks like a little piggy tail.  You are suppose to wait until it curls twice before cutting it off, to then help the garlic bulb bulk up over the next couple of weeks.  Once those false flowers (or also known as a garlic scape) are cut off, they can be used for a number of things.  Most popular is Garlic Scape Pesto, mmm my favorite!  But it can be used basically any way you use garlic, but looks more like a chive. 
Here is what a garlic scape actually looks like growing:

 

 Pretty cool huh?

Well after the scape is cut, I make pesto out of it every year.  Here is the recipe I use for Garlic Scape Pesto:

1 lb of Garlic Scapes cut into bite size pieces

3/4 c freshly grated Parmesan

3/4 c freshly grated Asiago 

1/2 c pine nuts

1 c extra virgin Olive Oil

Here is the process.  You want to wash the scapes first before cutting.  

Cut the hard stem and the false flower off of the scape

 

 Cut into bite sized pieces

 Add Olive oil first in a blender or food processor and then all of the other ingredients and blend until it is in a paste consistency.

To make this last longer.  I spoon it into ice cube trays and freeze it and pull it out of the freezer when I want to use it.  It helps it to last almost an entire year that way.

My favorite dish with garlic scape pesto, is to add cream cheese to it and make a creamy pesto sauce over pasta! 

Let me know if you get a chance to try this.  You can usually find Garlic Scapes at your local farmers market this time of year.

Enjoy!!