It’s the season for garlic scapes here, and I am pretty excited about that. The scapes are the flower stalks that form on hardneck garlic varieties and are usually cut off so the plant can devote all its energy to making big bulbs instead of flowers. But the scapes themselves are so tasty I think I would almost grow hardneck garlic just for the scapes alone. The scapes tend to get tough as they get bigger, so it’s best to cut them while they are on the small side. You can peel the stalks if they get tough on you, which sometimes happens to me when I miss cutting them in time.
garlic scape
And what do we do with this seasonal treat? One of my favorite things to make with them is pesto. I always make a batch or two of my Garlic Scape Pesto while they are in season. I like to use the pesto in pasta dishes, often paired with asparagus, which is usually in season at the same time the scapes are coming on. And I’ve been known to spread the pesto on a slice of crusty homemade bread for a garlicky snack. It also makes a good base for a pizza or wrap.
Garlic Scape Pesto
Another of my favorite things to make is garlic scape salad dressing. I’ve already made one batch of this so far this year, and I will surely make more as long as we have the scapes. The recipe for Daphne’s Garlic Scape Salad Dressing is easy to make and leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for about a week, though we usually eat it up quicker than that!
ingredients for garlic scape salad dressing
The scapes make a nice addition to egg dishes like omelets and frittatas. They can also be cut up to use in stir fried dishes, roasted or even grilled. I think it’s best to use the smallest and most tender ones for those treatments.
garlic scapes
I’m always looking for new ideas, and I’d love hear from others about how they use garlic scapes. They can sometimes be found at farmer’s markets or farm stands this time of year, but the best way to get the freshest and tastiest ones is to grow them yourself. I hope you’ve enjoyed this update, and I’ll be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres!
Yum, yum! I love scape season too – a couple of weeks or so yet for ours to come in. I have to say that my favourite way to use scapes is in Daphne’s dressing (I miss her!) – even the kids like it and ask for it by name. And since the scapes freeze well, we can enjoy it even in the middle of winter, which is always a treat.
Garlic scape pesto sounds delicious and I had forgotten that you make your own mustard and collect your own honey. A friend keeps trying to talk me into raising bees and chickens, but I don’t think our neighbors in town would appreciate that.
We love making garlic scape butter, just chopped scapes mixed with butter, salt and pepper.
Ooh, that sounds delicious – never thought of garlic scape butter!
Scapes are a treat that I’ll just get to enjoy reading about. Even when I could grow garlic the hardneck varieties never did do very well here. What I really miss is the green garlic.
I noticed a few scapes this morning on our garlic, and am looking forward to picking some for pesto. Daphne’s Garlic Scape Dressing sounds lush so I shall definitely be having a go at that oo, so thank you for the link
Just made Daphane’s garlic scape dressing. I have a tendency to harvest my scapes when they are too large, but today I was able to harvest when they were more tender and smaller. The dressing is delicious.