Garlic Scape Pesto
By Nicole Konstantinakos & Bryan RoofPublished on May 2, 2023
Time
20 minutes
Yield
Serves 8 to 12 (Makes about 2 cups)
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Garlic scapes are sometimes sold with some of their woody stems already trimmed off. Depending on the trimmed yield of your garlic scapes, you may need to add a little more oil to your pesto at the end to give it the right consistency.
Instructions
- Cook pine nuts and 1 tablespoon oil in 8-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until pine nuts are lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Cut away and discard tough, woody bottom portions of garlic scapes (usable portion of stems should bend slightly and yield easily to your knife). If bulbs at opposite ends of scapes are flowering, cut away and discard. If bulbs are tight and compact and not flowering, leave intact. Trim away any brown portions from tips of bulbs. (You should have about 9 ounces scapes after trimming.)
- Coarsely chop scapes. Pulse scapes, pine nuts, ¼ cup oil, salt, and pepper flakes in food processor until coarsely chopped, about 15 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
- Process pesto until finely ground, about 20 seconds. Transfer pesto to 2-cup jar or storage container. Stir in remaining ¼ cup oil. Texture of pesto should be spreadable; adjust consistency with extra oil as needed. Serve. (Pesto can be refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)
Time
20 minutesYield
Serves 8 to 12 (Makes about 2 cups)Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
This pesto is an ode to the pungent, fresh flavors of raw garlic scapes—the flower stems that emerge from hardneck garlic plants in late spring. We chopped and then blended raw scapes with pine nuts, olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes to make a bright, fragrant pesto. With the scapes' natural hints of nuttiness, along with the creamy richness of pine nuts and olive oil, we preferred to skip the addition of Parmesan cheese in this pesto, which makes it a wonderful dairy-free option. Enjoy this pesto tossed with pasta, stirred into soups, dolloped over vegetables, spread into sandwiches, or anywhere you're looking for a delicious garlicky kick.
Before You Begin
Garlic scapes are sometimes sold with some of their woody stems already trimmed off. Depending on the trimmed yield of your garlic scapes, you may need to add a little more oil to your pesto at the end to give it the right consistency.
Instructions
- Cook pine nuts and 1 tablespoon oil in 8-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until pine nuts are lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Cut away and discard tough, woody bottom portions of garlic scapes (usable portion of stems should bend slightly and yield easily to your knife). If bulbs at opposite ends of scapes are flowering, cut away and discard. If bulbs are tight and compact and not flowering, leave intact. Trim away any brown portions from tips of bulbs. (You should have about 9 ounces scapes after trimming.)
- Coarsely chop scapes. Pulse scapes, pine nuts, ¼ cup oil, salt, and pepper flakes in food processor until coarsely chopped, about 15 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
- Process pesto until finely ground, about 20 seconds. Transfer pesto to 2-cup jar or storage container. Stir in remaining ¼ cup oil. Texture of pesto should be spreadable; adjust consistency with extra oil as needed. Serve. (Pesto can be refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)
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