The summer we have been blessed with about a million scapes.
Okay maybe not a million, but way more than I can use to make hummus, no matter how much you love hummus when you are only using two per batch...so what to do with the other 900,000 scapes?
I wasn't in the mood to can so I didn't want to pickle them so pesto it is...
Pesto is actually pretty easy to do and there are about as may versions of how as there are stars in the sky (again probably a bit of a stretch). I based mine based on a few different recipes, and as per usual I don't really put too much effort into measuring.
Just in case you forgot what a scape look like still attached to the garlic plant.
Cut these bad boys off before they flower...then make stuff with them!
They can be pickled, sauteed, used like garlic in various cooked dishes, grilled, added to hummus like my previous post...you get the picture and I am starting to sound like Bubba Gump with scapes in place of shrimp.
This is what I used...
Chop up the scapes so they fit into your food processor (you could probably use a good blender as well and it might even come out smoother - but I went chunky in the cuisine art).
I added:
About 1/3 C of raw sunflower seeds.
Probably 15 scapes (some were pretty small).
About a cup of fresh basil.
Enough olive oil to blend.
About 1/2 C Parmesan and Romano cheeses.
Toss that stuff in the food processor and turn that bad boy on. Let it run for a few minutes and add additional olive oil if it is too paste like.
Occasionally open the top and scrape down the sides to get everything all blended and happy.
That's it. Done.
It does come out thick and I have been diluting it down with more olive oil to make it more manageable to use.
I will not be able to use it all before it gets weird so I plan on freezing it in ice cube trays for usable sizes for future yumminess.
So far I have tossed brussel sprouts in the pest and made a bizarre, but delicious mixture of cauliflower rice, sliced tomatoes, diluted pesto, and fresh sliced mozzarella cheese all melted up. It has also been added to spaghetti squash both with and without marinara.
How do you like to use either basil pesto or garlic scape pesto? I could use some new ideas!