Garlic Scape Pesto

I will be away at a funeral for Tuesday's pickup, so I am posting the recipe for the week of June 28/July 1 early!

This week's feature veggie is garlic scapes. The season of these guys is fleeting - only lasting about 1 week - and really only being picked once. Scapes are the flowering part of the garlic plant, and if they are not plucked off, the garlic head that we all know and love will not fully develop. Plus, they are beautiful!

Scapes provide a delicate tasty preview to the true garlic that is harvested late July/Early August. They can be sauteed pr eaten raw, just as you might garlic. But my favorite way to enjoy them is in pesto. 

I am in a bit of a rush off to the airport, so here is a quick cut-and-paste recipe for scape pesto... enjoy and feel free to expirement!

GARLIC SCAPE AND ALMOND PESTO

10 garlic scapes, finely chopped

1/3 to 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (to taste and texture)

1/3 cup slivered almonds (you could toast them lightly, if you'd like)

About 1/2 cup olive oil

Sea salt

Put the scapes, 1/3 cup of the cheese, almonds and half the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor (or use a blender or a mortar and pestle).  

Whir to chop and blend all the ingredients and then add the remainder of the oil and, if you want, more cheese.  

If you like the texture, stop; if you'd like it a little thinner, add some more oil.  

Season with salt.

If you're not going to use the pesto immediately, press a piece of plastic against the surface to keep it from oxidizing. The pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days or packed airtight and frozen for months.