Hands down, our favorite use for garlic scapes is pesto, which we freeze in ice cube trays and then pull out individual cubes for use all winter long. We don’t reserve pesto for pasta. We use pesto on everything, from a sandwich spread to piling on baked potatoes. Yuummm, scrumptious! Dick’s basic recipe:

RECIPE FOR GARLIC SCAPE PESTO – makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup pine nuts, sunflower seeds, or walnuts

3/4 cup coarsely chopped garlic scapes*

Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

*Or use half scapes and half fresh herbs such as basil, dill and chervil

Directions:

• In a small, dry pan set over very low heat, lightly toast the pine nuts, stirring or tossing occasionally until just beginning to brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.

• Combine the scapes, pine nuts, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse about 20 times, until fairly well combined. Pour in the olive oil slowly through the feed tube while the motor is running.

When the oil is incorporated, transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the grated cheese. If you plan to freeze the pesto, wait to add the cheese until after you’ve defrosted it.

Dick & Diana Dyer

Dick’s “Pretty Good!” Garlic at

The Dyer Family Organic Farm, Ann Arbor, MI

“Shaping our future from the ground up”