I have never seen or heard of garlic scapes before I arrived in Osoyoos.
Last year I purchased a jar of pickled garlic scapes from
Garlic Freak , at the Osoyoos Farmer's Market.
This morning I when I was at the Osoyoos Farmer's Market I purchased some.
Garlic scapes are the flower bud of the garlic plant. The bud is removed in late June to encourage the bulbs to thicken up. Scapes make a fabulous addition to a flower bouquet, and they are delicious to eat! Scapes taste just like garlic. They can be used in exactly the same way as garlic in any recipe.
By harvesting when young and
tender, they can chop them into salads or use them as a topping, as scallions. More mature scapes can be sauteed lightly
and used over pasta, with eggs, mixed with cooking greens,
pickled or pretty much in any dish that would be complemented by
garlic.
Garlic Scape Pesto.
10 to 12 large garlic scapes, with
the bulb removed, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup (lightly packed) clean and
dry basil leaves (optional)
1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 to 1 cup (or more depending on
how thick you want your pesto) of good quality olive oil
1/2 to 1 cup of grated Parmesan
Cheese
Method:
Add garlic scapes, basil and salt to
the large bowl of a food processor. Start processing, adding oil
slowly. Stop processing and scrape down
the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Once a smooth paste has been
achieved, add Parmesan and process until completely mixed in. Stop processing and add all of the
nuts. Pulse processor until nuts are
roughly chopped and fully mixed in. This gives the pesto a great
texture.