They are so cool! In all its curling wonder, I experienced garlic scapes for the first time as my German White Garlic gets close to maturity! Since this is a hardneck variety, it produces a scape, a long, thin shoot that is initially curly. Scapes will eventually straighten out, harden and produce a flower - taking some of the plant's energy away from the bulb. Harvesting them before they straighten serves two purposes - a culinary delicacy & encouraging bulb growth.
I had heard that many people use scapes in stir-fry, on pizza, or make pesto. I am hoping to try pesto later in the week, but tonight I used the scapes as a pizza topping! I first cooked the scapes for a few minutes in the oven with a little salt & evoo. Then I placed them on my pizza (homemade pizza dough, sauce, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese & homegrown basil).
yumm........it was delicious!
Note: as pretty as the curled scapes look on the pizza, it was very impractical when trying to cut and eat it! I ended up cutting up the scapes in smaller pieces and putting them back on each pizza slice!
1 comment:
My scapes have never been curly. I love your curly scapes.
Right now my leeks have scapes. I wonder if could cut those off and use them.
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