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A Garlic Prelude

Name: Garlic Scape Pesto
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup chopped garlic scapes; 1 cup olive oil; 2 cups grated Parmesan cheese; 1 T. lemon juice

One of my favorite crops in my market garden is garlic. The cloves are planted in the fall and start putting down roots before lying dormant over the winter. In the spring, they take off growing again and are flourishing in this year's wet weather. In June, the plants are two feet plus in height and start sending up their flower scape, often making an elegant full curl. Garlic growers remove the scape in order to send more energy to producing a larger size bulb. The scapes can add a tasty garlicky addition to cooking while we wait for the bulbs to mature. In Ohio, we will start pulling garlic bulbs for harvest in July when about half the leaves are brown.

To prepare scapes, discard the flowering end as it can be a bit stringy, and then the tender portion can be chopped and used like an onion scallion in recipes and it offers a delightful mild garlic flavor. They are excellent in soups, stir-fries, pesto and anywhere you might use onions or garlic.

Here are a few suggestions to get you started.