Garlic Scape – The Green Onion of the Garlic World

I love being introduced to new product, it is one of the main reasons I enjoy my CSA share.  Garlic scape is the green ropey sprout that grows out of the garlic bulb.  During the summer these are trimmed off so the bulb can finish maturing.  I got a bunch of these in my CSA share over the last few weeks and went to the internet to figure out what to do with them.  They are too tough to just cut up and eat as you would a green onion but they have a beautiful, sweet, fresh garlic flavor.

The first thing I tried was making garlic scape pesto.  I removed the flower buds and cut the scape into 2 inch pieces which I then ground up in my food processor. I then drizzled in olive oil until I reached the consistency of a rough paste.  Then it is just a matter of adding a little salt and pepper to finish it.  I love the fresh garlicky taste of this pesto and set off on finding dishes I could make with it.

Creamy Garlic Scape Pizza:

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of pizza dough (I use my bread machine to make this)

2 tsp olive oil

1 cup béchamel sauce

1 tsp garlic scape pesto

1 tomato

1 cup spinach

1/2 cup green olives

3/4 cup fresh cheese curds

1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

I have a simple bread machine recipe for pizza dough that I like to use, the bread machine takes all of the time and effort out of this.  I can even set a timer so it is ready for me when I get home if I am out all day.

While the dough was in the bread machine I made one recipe of the béchamel sauce from a prior blog post and set it aside to cool.  Then I added in 1 tsp garlic scape pesto.

I rolled out the pizza dough onto a square cookie sheet, brushed on the olive oil and blind baked it for about 3 minutes in a 475 degree oven to crisp it up a bit.  When the pizza skin came out of the oven I spread on the béchamel sauce until the skin was covered with a thin coat, it took about a cup.  Then I topped it with tomato, sliced green olives spinach, and fresh cheese curds.  I then grated the parmesan cheese on top and baked at 500 until the cheese started to brown and the sauce was bubbly.  Allow to cool so the sauce will set up, slice and enjoy.

Garlic Bread made with Garlic Scape

Garlic bread is a favorite in this household and there is no better way to make it than with garlic scape pesto.  Raw garlic is harsh and garlic butter can get really greasy.  Garlic scape pesto has a nice amount of oil and will give a fresh garlic taste without it being over powering.

 

 

Ingredients:

1 loaf of french bread (I used my bread machine for this as well)

Garlic Scape Pesto – enough to cover off the surface of the bread

Butter

Fresh Cheese Curds

Take your loaf of french bread and slice it down the middle horizontally butter it lightly and spread with the garlic scape pesto, I like a nice layer across the whole surface, you can be generous with it.  Then top with fresh cheese curd and put into a 475 degree oven until it is bubbly and the cheese starts to brown.  This is no doubt the best garlic bread I have ever had.

I have one more recipe that I want to share with you but I will do that in my next post later this week.  Sloppy Joe’s on panini pressed french bread topped with garlic scape pesto.  It is a winner.

This is an amazing ingredient that I was not familiar with but you can pick it up at many of the local farmers markets in Nova Scotia in July and early August.

I would like to thank my farmers for the following ingredients:

Tomato, Spinach, Garlic Scape : Taproot Farms

Milk for the Béchamel and Cheese Curds: Fox Hill Cheese House

Flour for my bread and crust: Speerville Mills