Grilled Garlic Scapes

When you grow garlic, there is always the question of what to do with the scapes (the curly-Q flower stalks on hardneck garlic varieties). They need to be removed to concentrate the plant's energy on forming the underground bulb. Problem is, they all need to be removed at the roughly the same time, and if you grow more than a few heads of garlic (we have 250) that's a whole lot of scapes to make sense of in a very short period.

Friends with a small farm that specializes in garlic admit to tossing bushels of them on the compost heap, no matter how valiantly they try to find new ways of eating them. I've tried most of the recommended treatments – adding them to stir-fries and salads, making scape soup,  pickling them. And I still end up giving them away by the sackful.

One of my favorite ways to cook asparagus is to toss it with some oil and S&P and grill it. A few years ago, it occurred to me to try the same with garlic scapes. I wasn't disappointed. Grilling mellows their otherwise sharp bite, so they have a soft sweet flavor, close to roasted garlic.

My 50 heads of German Extra Hardy – an early variety – needed scaping this week, so on Friday I clipped them all and grilled the whole pile for dinner. It's easy as hell – just cut off and discard the bulbous flower head then toss the whole scapes with oil (it takes getting in with your hands to really coat all the scapes; a light film of oil is best) and some salt and pepper. I used hazelnut oil this time.

Get your grill good and hot and throw the whole pile of scapes on at once, then spread them around with your tongs (if you don't have tongs, get yourself a pair of these – the best). Keep flipping and moving them around until they're soft (you'll notice they're limp when you pick them up) and caramely brown, even black in spots. Remove them from the grill, and toss them with a little more salt if you like. I served them with grilled giant scallops that had been slicked with hazelnut oil and dusted with fennel pollen.

My garlic growing friends suggested making a sort of pesto, by puréeing the scapes with some olive oil. I have a nice fillet of wild sockeye to grill for dinner tonight, and I'm thinking of treating it to a little scape pesto.

Comments

[GG Mora]

I've decided to start adding my own comments just to keep myself company. We didn't have the sockeye tonight; we went out to dinner at a crazy great place.

[Bethany]

We made some garlic scape pesto the other day with our scapes and it was wonderful with pita bread. I didn't have enough left to try it on pasta. Let me know if you do:)
Bethany

[Tana]

Did you see this?

http://www.whatgeekseat.com/wordpress/2007/06/16/garlic-scape-pesto/

: D

[Liza]

Mora, you're a genius.

[Liza]

Made a garlic scape pesto last night to universal acclaim. OK, I liked it, and so did Davy and Jack.

Big pot blanched the scapes (thank you, Farid!) for 4 minutes. Drained. Put into the food processor with salt, olive oil, and grated romano cheese. Delish. And very subtle. Our scape season is almost over but I'm hoping for one more batch. It was really great smeared on roasted tuna belly.

[Adam JW]

Thank you for posting this. I'm growing garlic for the first time and knew there was something I could do with the scapes (I didn't even know what they were called until now) but didn't even know where to start.

[Julie White]

I just had grilled scapes for dinner tonight, following your directions. INCREDIBLE!

[cate stoker]

really appreciate your info... esp. as new garlic grower...am about to saute' my few scapes with soy sausages to have with navy beans for brunch...as a pesto maker I'm also grateful for variations on the garden options. bon appetit-Cate

[Gail]

Was fortunate to find scapes at the local market. made a cashew/scape pesto. YUM! Can't wait to try them on the grill. Thanks

[Norma MT Braun]

Sauted scapes with Chinese fermented soy bean cakes: delicious.

[Phyllis Hughes]

Thanks for the great advice. Can't wait to try it tomorrow.

[Virginia Bruce]

I have some that have been in the fridge a while. They're not slimy or anything, so I'm going to grill them before I put our burgers on. I'm worried they''ll be tough, but I'll try to remember to let you know how they come out.

I have been trying to get hardneck garlic so I can grow it for a while. Anyone have recommendations of type/source?

[Virginia Bruce]

I snapped the stems like I do with asparagus, because parts of them seemed tough. I left the flower heads on -- they're the best part! Yay grilled garlic scapes!!