garlic scape pesto
Did you see Chef Hugh Acheson's tweet calling out Bon Appétit for referring to Sriracha as the "new king of condiments?" Of course you did. You are so plugged in. "What, is this the retro 1991 issue?" he asked. Hahahaha. Snap! This Sriracha has a lot of ZING! What a problem to have. "I have already heard of the product that my food magazine is recommending!"
Another very important problem that we should probably have a ribbon campaign or awareness month for is when people get too much of a single ingredient in their CSA box. "The Race Against People Having Too Much Kale 5K." You should organize that.
Of course, Hugh is right. Sriracha is so yesterday. Harissa is what's in. And also, what do I do with all of this lettuce, am I right? So much lettuce! (Make lettuce soup). If you read a lot of food blogs, you are probably not tired of hearing what people got in their boxes. Ours started last week and we got a lot of greens - lettuce, kale, spinach. And this week we are getting lettuce, arugula and mustard greens.
Anyway, this is not a real problem and you shouldn't worry about me. I'm sure I can find a support group. But we also got a lot of garlic scapes last week, so I made the obligatory garlic scape pesto. Garlic scapes should just have the recipe for garlic scape pesto printed on them. They are like those crunchy onion things that come in a can and the only thing people make out of them is the recipe for green bean casserole that is printed on the back of the label. (Really, you can use scapes just like scallions).
All that being said, this pesto is delicious! Garlic scapes have a really light garlic-onion flavor, not the pow of the raw bulb. At least these did. I had some a year or two ago where the bulb was much bigger on top and they were much stronger. So don't stereotype. I added a few basil leaves to bump up the fresh flavor and because my basil plant is doing very well. Jealous? I also used half toasted pumpkin seeds and half raw pumpkin seeds because I already had both, but you can use one or the other. Or a different nut entirely. You are an adult! You have agency!
Enjoy.
garlic scape pesto
ingredients
+ 6-7 garlic scapes, chopped roughly to fit in your food processor
+ 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted or untoasted, your call
+ 4-5 medium basil leaves
+ 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
+ 1/2 teaspoon salt
+ 1/2 teaspoon pepper
+ juice from half a lemon
+ olive oil, about 3/4 to 1 cup
recipe
Place the 6-7 scapes, 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, 4-5 basil leaves, 1/4 cup Parmigiano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and juice from half a lemon in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse a few times until the ingredients are roughly mixed and chopped.
Now, with the processor running, slowly pour the olive through the feed tube. Keep pouring and processing until the mixture is a thick and spreadable, yet not completely smooth.
To store, transfer the pesto to a container and pour a thin layer of olive oil on the top to seal. Store in the refrigerator or freezer. Serve pesto on crusty bread or mixed into spaghetti noodles with a bit of the hot pasta water added.
makes about 1 cup of pesto
