Had it not been for my CSA, I would have never even heard of garlic scapes. They are curly, whimsical green shoots and I was baffled when I first saw them.

What are Garlic Scapes:

You know when you have had garlic for too long and a little green shoot starts growing out of the top? That’s a garlic scape. I’m not really sure if this means you can grow your own in your pantry, but I do know that farmers can grow them and harvest them.

After some research, I found a simple recipe for Garlic Scape Pesto on the Vermont Valley website.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients:

5-7 Garlic scapes

1 cup olive oil

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

  1. Throw all ingredients into food processor and pulse until blended.

  2. Enjoy cautiously.

Warning: It is very tempting to eat this with a spoon. Beware! You will smell, breathe and taste like a garlic scape for days. We may have learned this from experience….

Garlic Scape Pizza

I love pesto and I love pizza. So it was natural that I wanted to make pizza out of my new pesto. The great thing about the pizza is that it mellows out the pesto. On its own garlic scape pesto has a strong garlic, spicy bite to it. When spread on the pizza dough and covered with cheese, the pesto calms down. The sweetness of the Roma tomatoes balances the sharpness remaining in the pesto and adds a nice splash of color to the dish.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup garlic scape pesto

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1 whole wheat pizza dough

3 Roma tomatoes

  1. Preheat oven to 450.
  2. Spread pesto over crust.

  3. Cover with cheese.
  4. Slice tomatoes and spread slices out over pizza.


  5. Bake until bubbly and browned.


Ways to use your pesto

There will be leftover pesto and no, you should not eat it with a spoon (no matter how good it sounds at the time). Here are some ideas for using that leftover pesto:

  • Toss with pasta
  • Toss with veggies and a protein (chicken, chicken sausage)
  • Spread on toasted bread, top with cheese and broil until the cheese melts
  • Toss with cooked potatoes
  • Toss with steamed green beans