Garlic Scape Pesto

 If you walk into the farmers market right now, you will see garlic scapes at almost every booth! They are the shoots that shoot up from hardneck garlic. It takes nine months for garlic to mature in the garden, and the scapes are a flavorful bonus as you are waiting for your garlic head to finally be ready.

The first time I heard of garlic scape pesto was when my friend, Aubrey, from Heart and Soul Farm brought me a jar and told me that I needed to find a way to grow garlic scapes. We tried it and were hooked on it's punchy garlic flavor, and immediately ordered a package of three organic hardneck garlic heads to be planted in the fall.

Nine months later, we had a few plants with scapes. We shared some with the Dietrichs, saved the garlic heads, and replanted everything again in the fall. Now we are harvesting that patch this summer and we are so excited to be able to bring garlic scapes to market and provide them for our CSA members!

                                                   

Ingredients-

3 garlic scapes, roughly chopped

1/4 c walnuts (you can also use pine nuts if you are feeling fancy)

1/4 c parmesan cheese (we always add "a little" extra)

1/2 lemon zested and juiced

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

3/4 c olive oil (we like to be able to drizzle ours, if you want a thicker pesto, you can reduce the oil to 1/2 c or even 1/4 c)

Put the scapes in a food processor and pulse 10-12 times. Add the walnuts and pulse 10-12 times. Add the parmesan, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Pulse 10-12 times. Turn the food processor on low and slowly drizzle in the olive oil until everything is fully combined.

The final product!

Store in a jar with a lid for up to 1 month in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer (don't forget to use a freezer safe jar!) We love to eat this with any kind of bread or with pasta. Below you can see that we made breakfast sandwiches with homemade biscuits, scrambled eggs, arugula, and garlic scape pesto. Hope you enjoy!

Carrie's Market Picks June 2018

Two of my top picks for the farmer's market this week come as a result of helping my cousin Ali and her husband Jonah at Teter Organic Farm last summer. Jonah introduced our family to kohlrabi and a variety of turnips called Hakurei turnips. As avid vegetable lovers, we couldn't believe what we had been missing out on in the vegetable world!

When we planned our garden and decided what we would sell at our market for 2018, we made sure to include plenty of kohlrabi and Hakurei turnips!

Our June market booth

If you are out and about, and looking for something fun to try this week from your farmer's market, I suggest picking up these three things...

1) Kohlrabi- this vegetable kind of looks like an alien head, but it has a delicious cabbage-like flavor and an incredible crunch. Our favorite way to eat it is to cut it into sticks and dip it in ranch, which is super refreshing on a hot day! We also love to toss slices of it with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and grill it for dinner.

2)Hakurei Turnips- these are amazing turnips. They are sweeter and less starchy than the turnips we've all grown up with, and are a great on salads or roasted in the oven. They also make a beautiful addition to a crudité platter.

3) Romaine Lettuce Heads- If you can find full heads of lettuce, they are beautiful and vibrant. The leaves are great for salads, wraps, and grilled with a drizzle of green goddess dressing (or whatever your favorite dressing may be)!

Hope you get to try some of these fun vegetables this season!