Recipe: Garlic Scape Pistou
Instead of a hunk of garlic, this recipe uses a wisp of it in the garlic scape.
Garlic is a long-awaited crop that requires forethought and patience because it is one of the few crops we plant in the fall to overwinter in the ground. After waiting all winter, this dormant allium peeks through in the spring. Before we can crush, sliver or mince the cloves, hardneck garlic plants give a little dose of garlic essence by sending up a whimsical curly scape. If left on the plant, the scape will uncoil to produce a flower. However, many farmers and gardeners remove the scape to encourage the plant to send its energy to the bulb underground instead of to the flower.
In the Learning Garden at The Sylvia Center, garlic is a wonderful teaching tool to talk about the different parts of the plant and how it uses energy. The lesson continues in the kitchen where we discuss how to prepare different parts of the plant, such as using the scapes in a pistou. Much like a pesto without the pine nuts, this pistou can adorn many dishes, from pasta to fish. We added it to our spring vegetable orzo dish as the pis-tou résistance.
Garlic Scape Pistou
Yields ~1 cup
3 garlic scapes, chopped
1 t lemon zest
3 T lemon juice
½ t kosher salt
4 packed cups spinach
2 packed cups basil
6 T olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Put garlic scapes into food processor along with lemon juice, lemon zest and kosher salt.
2. Pulse a few times to begin chopping the scapes.
3. Add spinach and basil and pulse again.
4. With the mixer running, add olive oil in a slow and steady stream.
5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed until desired consistency. Taste and adjust lemon, salt and pepper as needed.
