The Great 'Scape

It's time for me to accept the fact that asparagus season is over. But I've so enjoyed this veggie fling that I've decided to have a series of vegetable affairs—mini obsessions* focusing on one veggie at a time.  I will share my findings here, tagging the series "veggies".

I'm going to start with a vegetable that's new to me—The garlic scape**. These are similar in appearance to green onions but are actually the shoots of the garlic plant. 

I was brought these by a farmer friend of mine. And I was eager to see what I could make of them.

On Tuesday, I grilled a pizza and used sliced scapes as one of my toppings. It tasted like garlic—but fresher! I can't really explain it, but if you like garlic (and I do) I'd look into it. 

On Wednesday, I made a garlic scape pesto. Which I served over gnocchi and peas; a little tarragon for seasoning and it was quite delicious. I then froze the rest of the pesto in ice cube trays, because it's easy to retrieve a serving at a time that way.

Friday night I made a stir fry. It was a rather unusual combination for me, and it seems that frying the scapes as long as I did, really muted the garlic flavor. I could really smell it while it simmered but it was rather subtle when I ate it. 

Saturday I tried a little experiment—a nice loaf of bread sliced and filled with butter, chives and scapes–then roasted! Yup, I'll be doing that again. 

So results? I like scapes, but I like garlic, so it's that's not a huge shock. But it is a fresh alternative to the traditional clove. I'm thankful for the discovery.



*Obsession is a personality trait- I get equally obsessed television programs, songs, and now and then, an actor or two.
**In Botany . a leafless stalk rising from the ground.