farmer's market find: garlic scapes

last weekend,

we woke up on sunday morning

crossing our fingers that

it wasn't raining.

it was.

yet, we must have mustered up

all of our determination

because within 10 minutes,

it was only drizzling,

and 10 minutes after that,

it had stopped.

too worried to tempt fate,

we quickly tossed on

jeans

zip-ups,

flip-flops,

grabbed our reusable bags

and hopped in the car.

we had spent all week

talking about the newly

opened tenafly farmer's market

and we were going, come...

well, come wet weather or not.

we spent the first five minutes

looking, scoping everything out,

and the next 15 shopping for

freshly shelled peas

icicle radishes

teeny baby carrots

and baby red onions.

we turned to leave, nearly missing

a new crate at the table

we had visited first.

i was so excited to see garlic scapes.

i've heard about them,

know that they're the stalks that grow

from the garlic plant itself and

are certainly garlicky, but a mild

cousin of its cloves.

but i had never before tried them and

didn't really know what to do with them.

regardless, i grabbed a large handful.

once home, i ran to my

cookbooks

and

the internet,

learning that the most common

use was pesto. i didn't really want

to use them that way -

i had just made a pesto

two weeks before

and i have issues,

always feeling like i need

to step outside the box.

but, after a little while,

i decided not to fight

it and just make a batch myself.

every time i thought about

the pesto, however,

i worried that

the garlic would be too strong,

leading me to the decision to

cut the scapes into 1-inch(ish) lengths

and quickly saute the pieces first.

this taught me two things:

sauteed scapes are amazing,

and could pass for garlicky asparagus.

the second, is that cooking significantly

minimizes the garlic level.

so much so,

that when i tossed them

into the food processor with

toasted almonds

and grated parm,

i also added two raw scapes

to give the mixture more punch.

and, yes, i tend not to use nearly

enough olive oil in my pestos,

but still, i thought the blend

was lacking flavor.

so i tossed in more parm,

some lemon juice,

another scape

and finally, relentingly,

basil.

i didn't want to use the basil.

this was supposed to be

a garlic scape pesto.

i wanted the pesto to maintain

the beautiful peridot green

it was busy boasting,

not turn a deep emerald.

but after a 1/4 cup,

and another

and another,

it was clear that i had

made the right decision.

the basil simply heightened

the other ingredients,

while adding an herbal touch

that made a big difference,

overall.

that first night, i tossed

a big spoonful with

adorable mini gnocchi,

more toasted almonds and a

significant splash of the pasta's

cooking water.

fast and delicious - and the hot

water more than made up for

not using a huge amount of olive

oil (by pesto's standards).

a couple nights later,

i dolloped the leftovers over

pizza dough along with

shrimp

mozzarella

red pepper flakes

finely chopped preserved meyer lemon

and a couple whole

raw garlic scapes.

both ways, very good.

both ways, very fresh.

if i stumble across another crate

at a future farmer's market,

i will buy them.

but because they

were so remarkable both

sauteed

and

roasted,

those would probably be my go to dishes.

or maybe, this, which i'm regretting

i didn't see earlier (and wouldn't have

been able to tell you about if i had actually

posted this entry according to my planned

timetable, yesterday). turn anything

into a hummus-like dip,

and i'm curious.

add these curly cue stalks,

and i'm sold.

garlic scape pesto

this pesto is absolutely saucier when first made - it firms up significantly after a stay in the fridge. if you want a mixture with more olive oil, drizzle in extra, stopping when the blended veggies no longer absorb the oil.

15 garlic scapes, divided

3/4 cup fresh basil

1/3 cup almonds, toasted

1/2 cup grated parm

1/2 large juicy lemon, juiced

kosher salt

cracked black pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

cut 12 scapes into 1" lengths. over medium-high heat, warm large skillet coated with cooking spray or olive oil. when hot, add garlic scapes and cook 1 to 2 minutes, or until crisp tender (try one - the garlic level should not overwhelm you). let cool. meanwhile, cut remaining scapes into 1" lengths (or, cut all at one time and separate the 12 from the 3 immediately).

in bowl of food processor, combine cooked and uncooked garlic scapes, basil, toasted almonds and grated parm. pulse several times or until finely chopped and combined. add lemon juice; season with salt and pepper to taste. pulse twice. while motor is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil until emulsified, adding more if necessary or desired. use immediately or cover and refrigerate. you can also freeze pesto.