What to Do with Garlic Scapes?

I've been getting so many e-mails and search hits about what to do with garlic scapes, I thought a brief little post on ideas might be helpful.

First of all, what is a garlic scape?  It is the flowering portion of the a garlic plant; it is a very long and green stem, which is loopy in appearance and has a little bud on top.  The scape is discarded in order for the garlic bulb to grow properly, and until recently, the scape has been fed to the pigs or placed in the compost heap.  I've seen a lot of scapes at the markets this summer, and we will still have them for a week or so.  Garlic scapes have a mild garlicky flavor, almost reminiscent of roasted garlic in mellowness, but without the sugary taste.  Scapes have a texture similar to green beans, and they take a little cooking to soften up. 

My general rule is to cut the scapes into one inch batons and add them after the onions in a dish and before the mushrooms - just to say that the cooking time is somewhere in between the two.  I think you can put scapes into any dish where you would put garlic - although I view it just as another veggie, albeit a flavor-packed one.

• My personal favorite way to enjoy scapes is in stir fry (as pictured above, with broccoli, sugar snaps, plump early red onions and their stems) and leftover chicken, along with a good spoonful of garlic chili paste).  You can add them to practically any stir fry successfully - spicy or sweet.
• Scapes are also nice in pasta; I put them this week with hot Italian sausage, escarole, and green bell peppers.
• A lot of people make scape pesto, with scapes in place of basil.  This is a fine idea: personally, however, two suggestions when making pesto.  First of all, scapes can come out of the food processor a little stringy, so I like to cut them into 1/4" discs before blitzing.  Secondly, although they are mild, I still like to blanch the scapes for a minute and then shock them before making the pesto, just to ensure a mellow flavor.
• Toss the entire stem with a little olive oil and salt and throw on the grill.  Don't bother cutting them up, you can use a knife and fork.  They'll make a fun addition to the plate.
• Cut into 1/2" pieces and and add to soup.
• Cut into 1/2" pieces and blanch one minutes, shock, and then add to salads.
• Chop the scapes, toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and top meat or chicken with them.
• Chop and saute until lightly browned with a few chopped onions, then make a frittata or omelet.

I hope I've given you a few ideas to use up those garlic scapes this year.  They are always available from Just This Farm and Elizabeth Telling at the North Market, and From My Garden at the Worthington Market (in the Graeter's parking lot).  Happy eating!!

Comments

[lisa the waitress]

Jenn: Yay! I've changed next year's farmer's markets in PA! Wohoo!

Lindi: I think scapes are something which were probably used once upon a time when our ancestors had to use everything, but I think it's only been in the past few years they've come back into favor. I saw them first about 2 years ago; it used to be that only Just This Farm had them (he grows a TON of garlic); this is the first year I've had them in my CSA and have seen them at a few farms.

Jennier: your idea of putting them with mayo on the softie (that's restaurant lingo for soft shell crab) sandwich sounds delicious!! What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[Jennifer Hess]

I'm a big fan of the pesto, and I also recently chopped some scapes very fine and mixed them into mayo for soft-shell crab BLTs. That little hint of garlic flavor plus the gorgeous green color it give the mayo is really nice.

I haven't tried this myself yet, but I've also heard of people grilling them.

[Becky]

I got some garlic scapes a week or so pack from the CSA over near Lima that I belong to. They provided a few recipe ideas in the box, but I ended up tossing them in a stir fry along with some onion, sugar snap peas, and yellow summer squash that also arrived in the box that week. It was something new for me!

[Lindi]

Not only had I never seen or tasted scapes, but I had never heard of them until this summer. And I consider myself to be pretty in-the-know in terms of obscure food items. Is this something new and trendy on the culinary scene or have I just been woefully uninformed? I think I'll head down to Worthington this Saturday and pick some up for weekend experimentation! Thanks, Lisa, for all of the serving suggestions.

[Jennbecluv]

Interesting! I haven't seen anyone use scapes or sell them in my area before. I'm rather disappointed that we've taken all ours off the garlic plants already and discarded them. Note to self for 2008 growing season: Keep scapes. Thanks for idea!