For a Short Time Only: Garlic Scape Pesto!

Pesto from garlic scapes tastes amazing, but you can only get garlic scapes in the springtime so you’d better get stocked up now!

The season for garlic scapes is very short, so keep your eyes peeled in late spring, or you could easily miss your chance! Garlic scapes are the flower stalks of certain garlic plants, although they do not produce actual flowers. They are cut away from the garlic plant, since leaving them on would siphon the plants' energy away from forming an actual garlic bulb.

Chop scapes, and add them to salads or use them in place of scallions. They're great in hummus, dressings, salsa, and guacamole, or when made into a fresh aïoli. They also are wonderful pickled, but perhaps the most popular way to use them is to make a garlic scape pesto. Remove the stalk tip above the pod before using your scapes. The pod and tip are quite a bit tougher than the stalk.

Garlic scapes will keep up to a month in the refrigerator, although freshly cut scapes taste the best. Store them in a paper bag in the crisper drawer. Garlic scapes freeze well, too—you can blanch them or freeze them raw. Some of their flavor will diminish over time.