Chances are you won’t find garlic scapes anywhere but your farmers’ market or CSA box. They’re often passed over because people may not be sure what they are. Take advantage of this local food delicacy, but act fast, the curly green shoots are only available for a short time.

Scapes grow off of the bulb of garlic; sometimes they’ll even have small flowers attached. They have a mild garlic flavor and sturdy but easily chewable texture. Grill or sauté them and then toss them with veggies and pasta or even mashed up with potatoes. On this trip to the market, I also grabbed some gorgeous purple basil and headed home whip up some garlic scape pesto (recipe below). It works great on toasted bread, added to pasta or mixed in with scrambled eggs.

Combine scapes, basil, nuts, cheese, salt, pepper, lemon juice and zest in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse until smooth. With the machine on, slowly pour in olive oil.

*If you plan on freezing the pesto (ice cube trays work great for this), leave out the Parmesan cheese and add it to the pesto when thawed.

More recipes to try:
• Saute of Garlic Scapes and Green Beans
• Grilled Garlic Scapes