Garlic scape pesto is a MUST for the blog, and I’m surprised I haven’t already posted about it. Probably because it only comes around about once/year. And then I’m breathing garlic until the next year when the scapes are ready again.
Every year in the late spring/early summer garlic shoots up its scapes, which look like green beans with a curly tail. You can break off the top curly part and chop it up and use it as garlic. Or, even better, you can take a bunch of them and make garlic scape pesto!
Warning: this is not for those who are fair weather garlic eaters. Black Diamond garlic lovers only!
Unfortunately it’s too early in the season for any of the other veggies to be from the garden but it makes enough (aka strong and potent enough) to save some sauce for later in the season.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb pasta (or use a whole lb and all the sauce) I highly recommend Trader Joe’s Lemon Torchietti pasta
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/2 red onion
- 7-8 oz cherry tomatoes
- 3/4 cup pasta water
- Pesto:
- 10ish garlic scapes – roughly chopped, about a cup
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (plus more to top)
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
- 1/4 tsp salt
- More salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine ingredients for pesto in a blender and blend on high – no chunks. Even the biggest garlic lovers don’t want a bite of raw chunk garlic scape.
- Throw a little extra EVOO in a saucepan and sauté the peppers and onions.
- Cook the pasta until al dente.
- Put a couple tablespoons of the sauce with the onions and peppers.
- Pour 3/4 cup pasta water into the blender with the remainder of sauce and blend until smooth-ish.
- Put tomatoes in pot with veggies, followed by the pasta and about half of the sauce. Reserve the other half for more garden recipes later in the summer!
NicStan Cooks 