Scapes? What? I know, I too was in the dark about what the hell these were until Mark introduced them to me 6 years ago. In a nut shell, Garlic Scapes are the shoots that grow out of garlic bulbs and have a really gentle garlic flavor and texture. THEY ROCK! People used to throw them away until they realized how amazing they actually are. They have a very short season so you want buy them on the smaller/thinner side because the bigger they get, the tougher they get. (Insert human metaphor here!). They remind me a bit of green beans but have a bit more of a bite raw! But, if that’s your thang then go for it! Meow! Where do you get them? You’ll find these mostly at local farmer’s markets because farmer’s know how crazy good these are. I’ve included a pic below as to what they actually look like before cooked so you can eye ball them at the market. Cooking is super easy so here it goes.
Ingredients:
1 large bunch of garlic scapes
2 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic diced
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
1. Clean Garlic Scapes, cut brown/dried ends and chop into green bean sized lengths.
2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat and “sweat” your garlic until very light brown.
3. Add chopped scapes stirring for 8 minutes.
4. Add chicken stock and cover. Cook until tender
5. Salt and pepper to taste and serve warm.
*Tip. Another way to use scapes is to make a pesto out of them. Simply substitute the arugula and basil in my pesto recipe with the scapes. Remember go easy on the garlic for the pesto as these have a mild garlic value already.