Greetings readers!
Thanks for sticking with me throughout my hiatus. It’s good to be back writing and cooking again. And what a time to be back, with summer staring in full swing, gardens becoming lush wonderlands of fresh ingredients, and the farmer’s markets hopping with vendors and happy buyers.
Garlic Scape Pesto
Tonight we made Garlic Scape Pesto with fresh organic garlic scapes purchased at our local farmer’s market yesterday. These are so fleeting we’ve missed them in years past. I was afraid we’d miss them this year but we lucked out. We bought two bunches, one is waiting in the fridge crisper for another experiment, one was dinner!
What is a garlic scape, you ask? Garlic scapes are the flower buds that garlic bulbs put out. In order to get the garlic we’re familiar with (a bulb with cloves) the scapes are cut, and the garlic forms cloves. If the scapes weren’t trimmed, the garlic bulb would resemble an onion instead.
This pesto is super, super easy to make. My problem is the last time I made it was two years ago. So I found a few recipes online, played with it, and it was good! It needs a little work though. It was a little strong and a little thick, but it was just as wonderful as I remember!!!
I’ve included the recipe for all of dinner below. If you get the chance, give it a try!
Plans for the week
I’m not sure what we’re going to do this week, I do have a few bell peppers and another bunch of scapes. It’s definitely grilling season so maybe we’ll play with the grill a bit. We’ll see. It’s going to be a short work week, what with the fourth, so that will mean more time to get back into the kitchen! It has been one of the things I have missed greatly while work has been so crazy, and now that things should hopefully be calming down I will have more time to play.
With any luck I’ll see you guys next week!
Have a great week and happy summer!!
Eat Happy!
Recipe:
Garlic Scape Pesto with Chicken and Sundried Tomatoes
Pesto
- 1 bunch garlic scapes, washed and chopped roughly
- ¾ cup walnut halves
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¾ olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Water to texture (plain yogurt might be good, milk or almond milk too…)
- Chicken, sliced bite sized (we used a little less than a pound, and had lots left)
- Sun dried tomatoes to taste (I used the ones packed in oil)
- Pasta of your choice (we used fresh spinach pasta, store bought)
- Parmesan or asiago
~Cook pasta according to instructions; once you get the water going you can work on the rest!
~Put all but salt and water in a food processor or blender
~Blend until smooth. Add salt to taste. Add water (if using) until it is as thin as you like it.
~Cook chicken in a non-stick pan, adding maybe 4 tablespoons of pesto to the chicken
~After the chicken is no longer pink on the outside, add sun dried tomatoes to the chicken
~Toss the remaining pesto with the drained pasta (it’s preferable if the pasta is hot)
~When the chicken is cooked through, add chicken and tomato mixture to the pasta
~Toss and serve, topped with cheese if desired
