Roast Pork and Potatoes with Garlic Scape Pesto
I’ve just brushed my teeth for ten full minutes and still have garlic scape burps.
Since it’s still early in the season, we’ve been getting garlic scapes in our CSA box. The question is, what is a garlic scape and what does one do with them?
When you think of garlic, you most likely picture an entire bulb, or head, but as it grows, the stalk is referred to as the garlic scape. They are long and green, windy and perfectly smooth, reminiscent of green onions or garlic chives with a not-so-subtle garlic flavour. You can chop them and add them to soups, stir-fries, salads.. or you could make a batch of garlicky pesto. Over the weekend we’ll be dipping into this for pasta, mashed potatoes.. maybe a pasta or potato salad? Minestrone?
I pulled a pork loin from the freezer and roasted it with quartered potatoes, all drizzled with a bit of canola oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Both were fab with the pesto. Ali made a chopped salad with other CSA goodies-lettuce, peas, radishes-yum.
Garlic Scape Pesto
adapted from (inspired by?) What Geeks Eat
a couple handfuls of fresh garlic scapes, cut into pieces a couple inches long
a big handful of fresh basil
1/2-1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
a handful of walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup(ish) extra-virgin olive oil or cold-pressed canola oilPut everything but the oil into a food processor and pulse, pouring the oil in a thin stream through the feed tube, until roughly or smoothly puréed.
August 14 2010 08:48 am | pork
Elaine on 14 Aug 2010 at 9:59 am #
That sounds fabulous–I love garlic scapes! Such an indisputably summertime taste. They’re also terrific on pizza.
Barb on 14 Aug 2010 at 10:18 am #
The roast must have been delicious! Eating something cold after something garlicky helps to eliminate the odor. Ice cream works well.
Erica B. on 14 Aug 2010 at 10:40 am #
Wow now that’s garlicky
I made basil spinach pesto recently and almost fell over at the price of pine nuts – they’re like gold! I’ll be giving walnuts a whirl next time for sure!
Dahlia on 14 Aug 2010 at 1:48 pm #
Are you still getting garlic scapes in Calgary? They’re almost finished in Quebec… Good to know since I was wondering what the seasonal variations were between the provinces. Thanks!
Robyn in Mountain (Ontario that is) on 14 Aug 2010 at 7:20 pm #
Delicious and healthy, thanks Julie! I’ll give it a whirl. Walnuts make a great substitute for pine nuts — I stopped using pine nuts a long time ago and the flavour is fabulous!
bellini valli on 15 Aug 2010 at 10:02 am #
I still have garlic scape pesto in my freezer from last year…thanks for the reminder it would be delicious with pork and potatoes.
Sarah on 15 Aug 2010 at 9:31 pm #
Julie, your pictures on the website are great, it’s not just the food that makes your website so appealing. What kind of camera do you use? Thanks,Sarah
carla on 16 Aug 2010 at 8:28 am #
I just made my first batch of pesto with a basil plant I wrestled home from the Penticton farmers market with a van-full of 4 kiddos!! Then I used the pesto to make some really yummy pesto/parmesan bread (thekneadforbread.com)and now I am left wondering – where can I find a supply of basil???
Evelyn in Canada on 16 Aug 2010 at 12:14 pm #
Awesome timing. That’s one of the great things about reading a local blog – what’s ready in your garden/CSA is ready in mine. I was just called by a friend and asked if I wanted to harvest all of her basil because it’s starting to flower. Pesto for two families. I think I will use a mix of pine nuts and walnuts because I do like the oily creaminess of the pine nuts.
Pille @ Nami-Nami on 17 Aug 2010 at 11:45 pm #
I LOVE garlic scapes in stir-fries!!! Nice flavour and excellent crunchy texture!
New Potato Salad with Green Beans and Pesto | dinner with Julie on 23 Aug 2010 at 9:21 pm #
[...] beans that came in our CSA box this week. Of course I’m still hopelessly hooked on that garlic scape pesto. And I wanted everyone at said picnic to have garlic breath as distinct (emphasis on stinct) as [...]