If you grow garlic, be sure to get out and harvest the seed head as it appears in the top of the plant this month. It’s called a ‘scape’ and you should pluck it off so the plant puts its energies into the bulb. If you don’t have garlic, you can often find scapes in abundance at farmer’s markets this time of year.
What to do with these things?
It’s a shame to let them go to waste. They have a lovely, milder garlic flavor than the bulb, and a satisfying crunch, though not tough or stringy. Some people like to saute them like string beans. You could steam them and serve them with a white sauce. OR – make
Blend until it forms a smooth, pale green paste. Store covered in fridge.
Now, what to do with the Pesto?
- Toss it with pasta
- Spread it on crackers
- Roll bread dough out and spread with pesto – roll up as you would for cinnamon bread and bake. Serve with spaghetti and Caesar salad!
- Layer it in a Lasagna (I made a White Garlic Lasagna last night for a freezer meal – I’ll let you know how it tastes later this month!)
- Dollop it on top of a baked potato with sour cream and butter. Oh, yes!!!
Dinner the other night – Baked Potatoes with Garlic Scape Pesto, Teryaki BBQ chicken (we are so addicted to this sauce, we are averaging once a week with this recipe), and Ceasar salad.
All the recipes above are in my new cookbook, Real{Fast}Food, a treasure trove of fast, delicious meals for your busy summer!
What are your favorite sides when you grill? I’m looking for more ideas!
Shared on Real Food Wednesdays, 
Traditional Tuesdays
Simple Lives Thursdays
Nice blog. I linked to your scape pesto recipe in my post Using and Preserving Garlic Scapes
Love the title of your new book. Sounds like you've already hit a winner. The whole meal looked so yummy, fresh and healthy.
Blessings!
Pamela
anonymous – you simply MUST tell me how one lacto ferments scapes!!!
Stephanie, your grilled veggies sound awesome! I am going to have to branch out and put something else alongside the meat on the grill. Thanks for inspiring me!
Brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing. I can hardly wait to get some either from my own garlic or the market.
We love to grill out.Whenever we do I like to try and put as many things on the grill as possible so I can go outside with the kids while stephen grills. Some of our favorites are grilled eggplant cut in 1/2″ rounds and sprinkle with a little bit of olive oil and dry ranch seasoning.Marinated zucchini strips in italian dressing. Toast Fresh bread with olive oil and garlic on it. Kabobs, you can put anything on them. Those are some of our favorites.
Thank you for this tasty sounding idea!!! I am getting ready to be up to my eyeballs with scapes and this will be a nice change from lacto fermenting them for the family.