From CCSA Member Debra Revere
Garlic Scapes: They look a bit odd, can twist and be curly—which is one reason they are also sometimes called serpent garlic. Garlic scapes are the green stems that shoot up from garlic bulbs growing underground. If you like garlic, you’ll love garlic scapes and you can use them in all the same ways you’d use regular garlic. I like to sauté or grill a bunch of scapes and keep them in the fridge, tossing them into chicken salad, adding to scrambled eggs, pureeing then mixing into softened butter to make garlic bread, whisking into a little sour cream to drizzle on roasted veggies, or processing with white beans, a little olive oil, lemon juice and spices to make a fabulous dip. Three recipes follow that showcase this versatile vegetable.
Happy eating!
Double Garlic Soup (a variation on Melissa Clark’s recipe)
1 sweet onion, chopped
3 bulbs garlic (green if available), chopped
3 Tab unsalted butter
3 c sliced garlic scapes, no tops
3/4 tsp salt, more to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 c half-and-half or whole milk
2 tsp lemon juice
Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion. Sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add scapes, salt and pepper, and sauté for 5 minutes.
Stir in potato and broth, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until scapes and potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add half-and-half, and purée soup with an immersion blender or process in a food processor. Stir in lemon juice and season with more salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Notes:
Half-and-half can be omitted with no loss in taste. Only puree half of the soup for a more textured dish.
Garlic Scape Chutney
3/4 c chopped garlic scapes, tops removed
1/2 c fresh mint packed
1/2 c roasted or smoked almonds
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 jalapeño or Serrano pepper (opt)
1 Tab lime juice
1/3 c olive oil
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until uniformly granular. Notes: Use garlic chutney like you would any chutney—to adorn curries, as a pasta or rice topping or to spice up grilled vegetables.
Garlic chutney is great spread on naan, covered with a little melty cheese like mozzarella, and grilled in the oven or on the barbeque for 2-3 minutes.
Garlic Scape Pesto
1/4 c pine nuts
3/4 c coarsely chopped garlic scapes
Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
a few generous grinds of black pepper
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
In a small, dry pan set over very low heat, lightly toast the pine nuts, stirring or tossing occasionally until just beginning to brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
Combine the scapes, pine nuts, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse about 20 times, until fairly well combined. Pour in the olive oil slowly through the feed tube while the motor is running. When the oil is incorporated, transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the grated cheese.
Notes: Pesto can be frozen if you omit the cheese (add before using). Fill ice cube trays with the pesto, freeze and then break it out of the freezer trays to have small portions of pesto to use.
For a different taste, use 1/2 c unsalted pistachios instead of the almonds.
Back to Recipes
Garlic Scapes: They look a bit odd, can twist and be curly—which is one reason they are also sometimes called serpent garlic. Garlic scapes are the green stems that shoot up from garlic bulbs growing underground. If you like garlic, you’ll love garlic scapes and you can use them in all the same ways you’d use regular garlic. I like to sauté or grill a bunch of scapes and keep them in the fridge, tossing them into chicken salad, adding to scrambled eggs, pureeing then mixing into softened butter to make garlic bread, whisking into a little sour cream to drizzle on roasted veggies, or processing with white beans, a little olive oil, lemon juice and spices to make a fabulous dip. Three recipes follow that showcase this versatile vegetable.
Happy eating!
Double Garlic Soup (a variation on Melissa Clark’s recipe)
1 sweet onion, chopped
3 bulbs garlic (green if available), chopped
3 Tab unsalted butter
3 c sliced garlic scapes, no tops
3/4 tsp salt, more to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 c half-and-half or whole milk
2 tsp lemon juice
Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion. Sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add scapes, salt and pepper, and sauté for 5 minutes.
Stir in potato and broth, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until scapes and potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add half-and-half, and purée soup with an immersion blender or process in a food processor. Stir in lemon juice and season with more salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Notes:
Half-and-half can be omitted with no loss in taste. Only puree half of the soup for a more textured dish.
Garlic Scape Chutney
3/4 c chopped garlic scapes, tops removed
1/2 c fresh mint packed
1/2 c roasted or smoked almonds
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 jalapeño or Serrano pepper (opt)
1 Tab lime juice
1/3 c olive oil
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until uniformly granular. Notes: Use garlic chutney like you would any chutney—to adorn curries, as a pasta or rice topping or to spice up grilled vegetables.
Garlic chutney is great spread on naan, covered with a little melty cheese like mozzarella, and grilled in the oven or on the barbeque for 2-3 minutes.
Garlic Scape Pesto
1/4 c pine nuts
3/4 c coarsely chopped garlic scapes
Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
a few generous grinds of black pepper
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
In a small, dry pan set over very low heat, lightly toast the pine nuts, stirring or tossing occasionally until just beginning to brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
Combine the scapes, pine nuts, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse about 20 times, until fairly well combined. Pour in the olive oil slowly through the feed tube while the motor is running. When the oil is incorporated, transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the grated cheese.
Notes: Pesto can be frozen if you omit the cheese (add before using). Fill ice cube trays with the pesto, freeze and then break it out of the freezer trays to have small portions of pesto to use.
For a different taste, use 1/2 c unsalted pistachios instead of the almonds.
Back to Recipes
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