I was hoping to get this out there before garlic scapes are out of season, but if I didn’t make it for your area, be sure to save it for next year. We pick them up at every farm market we visit, and this year, we’re also harvesting our own, thanks to our new garlic garden. I’m picking the last of them today.
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I’ve managed to freeze 6 one-half cup portions of very potent pesto, in addition to enjoying the scapes in many dishes. I change up the pesto every time I make it, but be sure to try the scape butter on corn, and as a sandwich spread.
The coolest thing I tried this year was roasting the scapes. Just toss them with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 400 degrees F. for about 20 minutes. From here, they can be chopped and frozen or used as is. I’ve grilled them in previous years, but this was a first for me. If you were wondering, scapes freeze great. You can freeze them whole (raw) or roasted, or minced.
Besides the photos below, I used some of the pesto in the Grilled Eggplant Bruschetta appetizers from our wine get-together. I also used a ton of them in a Mexican scramble, and we had fried scape potato skins.
 They are awesome on pizza whether they are fresh, sauteed, or fried. I made a creamy garlic dressing for salad that we also used for dipping vegetables.Â
 This is a broccolini, chickpea, garlic scape potato salad. It will be the first thing I do with scapes next year, or hopefully one more time this year.
Pasta with roasted scapes, cherry tomatoes, spinach and basil. It can’t be beat for a quick dinner.
 A variation on the fries at Laughing Seed, made with garlic scapes in addition to the onion and jalapeños. The extras are added during the last few minutes of frying. Fried garlic scapes were unexpectedly wonderful, by the way.
 
I know, you probably don’t need to see a stir fry, but I thought maybe you’d like to see the seitan. It’s grilled chickeny seitan that was marinated in Asian spices. The heat from the seitan was the perfect counterpoint to the garlicy noodles.
Garlic Scape Gravy? Yes, please! This happens to be over the Southern Tofu from the upcoming book from Bianca, Vegan Crunk.
If you’ve ever been intimidated by scapes, give them a try. They are a bit more robust than garlic, and also have a terrific texture. As one of the earliest vegetables at our farm market, the season can’t kick off in a better tasting way.
14 Comments
Never had garlic scrapes. but your dishes look delicious! i may have to give them a try!
What timing – I just got some in my CSA basket last week and other than using them in a stir fry last night, I wasn’t sure what to do with them. Thanks for the great ideas!
GFHT, they have a short season, but are so worth it! Keep an eye out for them.
Aimee, they are so fun! Go wild with them!
The fries, dude. I mean, look at them…
dude, thanks!
GREAT post, I love scapes! I still have some in my fridge (they do last forever, thankfully!). And I’ll just freeze them raw like you suggested if I don’t use them since I already have some scape pesto in the freezer.
And I LOVE your garlic garden! Wow, that’s a lot of garlic, about how much I would use if I had it, haha!
XOXO
They do store really, really well! We had problems with deer eating our garden the last couple of years. Last year they even ate our hot peppers! So we decided to go all under ground. Plus, I have secret aspirations of being a garlic farmer. We have about 10 kinds in there.
Enchanting! I’ve never gotten a hold of fresh garlic scapes, and only cooked once with frozen, which I have to presume pale in comparison. I wasn’t terribly impressed with those, but I’d sure love to give the real stuff a shot. They look so elegant, and sound so fantastically flavorful!
Hannah, watch for them in farm markets next year. They are so worthwhile!
Yum, yum, and yum! I love scapes. Garlic garden!?! You are amazing.
Jen, it’s the best thing that has ever happened to our garden!
I never had garlic scapes and don’t think they are available here. I clearly need my own garden!
Mihl, apparently they are mostly an American thing. Who knew?
Great food.