Beechwood Inn - Bed Breakfast and Wine Cellar

Garlic Scape Pesto: Appetizer-Snack

Servings: 8

Prep time:45 minutes

Ingredients:

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  10 garlic scapes, finely chopped

• 

  1/2 cups finely grated Parmesan Reggiano

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  1/3 cup cup toasted pine nuts (for a variation use black walnuts)

• 

  6 Basil leaves

• 

• 

  1/2 cup olive oil

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  Sea salt

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  Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Step 1:

Garlic Scapes Garlic Scapes are the wild and curly shoots that spring from the tops of garlic plants. They're brilliantly green and grow corkscrewed. They've got a mild garlic fragrance and a mellow garlic flavor. It's got a freshness that garlic loses as it develops. The scapes, which look as beautiful in the garden as they do at the market, are meant to be cut - cutting them strengthens the garlic bulbs that are growing underground - so it's a win-win for the garlic and us. We use the scapes as a garnish – just pour some olive oil on them, grill them until their crisp/limp and then lightly salt them. Saturday night we made scape pesto which we served on pan seared crab cakes. Last night Gayle and I used the rest of the scape pesto on pasta. Scapes are fleeting, their only available about 10 days each year.

Step 2:

Put the scapes, cheese, pine nuts, Basil and half the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor (or use a blender or a mortar and pestle). Whir to chop and blend all the ingredients and then add the remainder of the oil. If you like the texture, stop; if you'd like it a little thinner, add some more oil. Season with salt. If you're not going to use the pesto immediately, press a piece of plastic against the surface to keep it from oxidizing. The pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days or packed airtight and frozen for a couple of months.