This one is not for the faint of heart; but if you’ve got a vampire problem or are a true garlic lover, you’ll be eating it by the spoonful out of the food processor – like a certain very pregnant girl I once heard about.
As with all pesto, it should freeze well without the cheese, in ice cube trays or single-meal quantities. Just defrost and add the cheese later.
Tonight I’ll be making french omelets with a heaping spoonful of this stuff tucked into the middle, along with a lightly dressed baby greens salad and some french bread and butter. If that sounds like a nice, casual, unconflicted dinner to you, check out this amazing article and recipe by Francis Lam from the March issue of Gourmet.
This pesto would also work nicely on pasta, or as an alternative to Cilantro Sauce in any of the suggested preparations in the last post.
Garlic Scape Pesto
3/4 cup coarsely chopped garlic scapes (1 Catalpa Ridge share, if you use the entire scape)*
1/4 cup pine nuts
Juice and Zest of 1/2 lemon
3/4 teaspoon salt
Grinds of black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese
Lightly toast the pine nuts in a small, dry pan over very low heat, until just starting to brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Combine the scapes, pine nuts, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse about 20 times, until fairly well combined. Pour in the olive oil slowly through the feed tube while the motor is running. When emulsified, remove to a bowl and stir in the grated cheese.
* Some of the few recipes I’ve seen using garlic scapes say to remove the upper portion, but so far I haven’t been, and we’re all doing okay.
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2 comments
Just thought of (and made, and ate) another good and easy use for this: chicken salad. Great lunch or quick summer dinner. I started by cutting up a rotisserie chicken, threw in some diced celery and a schlog each of pesto and light mayo (if you hate mayo, leave it out, adding a touch of extra virgin olive oil instead, or use greek yogurt or sour cream). The preschooler ate it, too. Yum!
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