Garlic Scape Pesto

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You probably already know just how much we love Garlic here in our Valley. We grow several hundred heads of it each year and as I type this, we still have two large flats of Garlic left from our 2011 Harvest. No worries, we will eat every last one of them.

It’s not uncommon for us to each have a whole head at dinner time – we do really love it that much. When you add in the health benefits of eating lots of Garlic, it’s clear that we’re doing a good thing.

For every single head of Garlic that will be harvested, there will be a Garlic Scape. Read more about Garlic Scapes here if you like.

It’s important for each of these Scapes to be cut off, so that as much energy as possible goes into forming the root Garlic head. The bigger we can get them to grow, the wider our smiles.

What to do with all these Scapes? We plant well over 200 cloves of Garlic a year, so that is well over 200 Garlic Scapes that we must cut and use.

We pickle a lot of the Scapes and you can get the recipe for our Pickled Garlic Scapes here. We also eat a lot fresh – they are great added into scrambled eggs and quiches. We also steam them and have them as one of our vegetables at dinner time.

A few weeks ago, I was reading through the Gardenwise magazine (Fall 2011) and noticed there was a recipe for Garlic Scape Pesto. I jotted down the recipe and want to share it with readers who may love Garlic and Scapes as much as we do.

I know this isn’t the right time of year for harvesting Garlic Scapes, but I am getting anxious for warmer Spring like weather and watching all the green appear in our yard. Maybe some of you are feeling the same way?

Our Valley as it looks this morning

How I wish our Valley looked this morning

Here’s the recipe – why don’t you think of making some of this Pesto this year?

Garlic Scape Pesto

Use the Scapes while they are still curly – remember, the earlier you harvest them, the sooner the energy goes back into making each bulb bigger.

2 cups Garlic Scapes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

3 Tbsp toasted sunflower seeds

3 cups fresh Basil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients except the olive oil into your food processor and blend until smooth.

Slowly pour the olive oil through the funnel into the bowl as it is blending, until the Pesto is of good consistency.

This Pesto can easily be frozen, which is great. We can pull some out whenever we want to enjoy.

If you want to know more about growing Garlic, here is a 4 part series with everything you need to know. Garlic is very easy to grow, so think about tucking in some cloves this year.