“Where would we be without salt?” – James Beard

Garlic Scapes

Garlic Scapes are a thing of beauty.

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We haven’t known each other very long but I am already in love. We met last Summer. It was a beautiful day in June – a Tuesday actually. I always anticipated Tuesdays as a heaping box of fresh produce landed on my door step around noon every other week. This week was no different except when I removed the lid to reveal the glorious contents I found an item that looked quite odd. Citron green, slender stalks wildly curly with a small bud near the top.

I soon discovered that this – new – to – me ingredient was a Garlic Scape, the stem of a hardneck garlic. While the bulbs are busy maturing below the surface the young and mischievous flower stem curls.  Young garlic scapes are tender and delicious. I often describe the texture to that of a green bean but the flavor is unmistakable – similar to mature garlic but much more mellow.

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Last season I chopped my scapes in one inch pieces, sauteed in brown butter and added fresh sweet corn. Before I finished licking my plate the garlic scape season was over and I spent the cold winter months dreaming of that sweet garlicky taste that I didn’t get enough of.

This year is different. When Dorie posted a recipe for Garlic Scape pesto I nearly dropped the computer and began hunting them down for myself. I held off for a few days – in the meantime anticipating what I was going to do with my little mischievous curls.

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The Farmer’s market was teaming with scapes. I grabbed three large bunches and headed home, munching on a pint of incredibly red and sweet strawberries to tide me over.

In a matter of a few hours the scapes were transformed into Pesto, pickles and pizza.

The first bunch I tossed in a bowl with a little bit of olive oil and sea salt. They sizzled on a very hot grill pan then finished in the oven on a bed of mozzarella cheese and whole wheat crust.

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The second bunch was chopped up, tossed in a blender with lemon juice, roasted and chopped almonds, Parmesan cheese, olive oil and salt – making the most incredible pesto I have ever tasted. I followed Dorie’s recipe here (with an addition of lemon juice)

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And finally – the third bunch is sitting on the pantry shelf pickling as we speak. This little project I am quite proud of as it was my first attempt at canning and so far I see no scary creatures growing in the jar. I call that a success.

Pickled Garlic Scapes

1       pound or more of scapes, whole

3       cups vinegar

5       cups water

¼     cup kosher salt

Fresh Basil Leaves

Chili Flakes

Boil the water, vinegar & salt solution. Pack hot jars with whole scapes, 1 fresh basil leaf, a pinch of chili flakes (depending on your spice tolerance) and then the brine. Put on lids, place in a hot water canner and boil for 45 minutes. Leave at least 2 weeks before serving to get best flavor.

I adapted the recipe from EverGreen Farms. With one bunch of scape I made 2 8 oz. jars and have an abundance of pickling liquid left ready and waiting for more scapes.

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I hope to have many more scape experiments this season but I must act quickly as the season is very brief.

How do you eat your Garlic Scapes?

More Scape-tastic recipes:

White Bean and Garlic Scape Dip from zested

The inspiration for my pizza from Herbivoracious

Another version of pesto from Kayln’s Kitchen

Garlic Scape Soup from Going Local

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27 Comments

  1. Heather
    Posted June 18, 2009 at 3:53 PM | Permalink

    Love this post – I met them last summer too, and I just adore them. :) Your pizza looks fabulous! It might just be the tipping point to finally picking up a grill pan.

    As far as other recipes go, the NYT white bean dip (on zested) is my fall-back; it’s awesome. I just re-read the accompanying article and realized that there are other garlicky recipes to try out at some point as well, like this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/dining/185arex.html?ref=dining

  2. Posted June 19, 2009 at 12:28 PM | Permalink

    very cool photos

  3. Joseph Sokoloski
    Posted June 19, 2009 at 12:52 PM | Permalink

    I am growing fresh garlic and need some suggestions on the scapes .First time grower . My E mail address is sokoj@verizon.net. If you wish to reply I can send you some pics of my garlic patch, that is not too big .

  4. Posted June 19, 2009 at 1:21 PM | Permalink

    These garlic scapes are popping up all over the food blogs – I must get myself to a farmer’s market! :)

  5. Posted June 20, 2009 at 6:30 AM | Permalink

    Lovely photos! I have not seen scapes at my farmer’s market here in London. I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled- this looks delicious.

  6. Posted June 21, 2009 at 12:58 PM | Permalink

    Ahhh, garlic scapes are so lovely. I love your idea of garlic scape pizza–what a tasty idea to grill them first. I have used them in artichoke dip, chopped up on “garlic” bread, thrown into soups, and mixed in with stir fries. I have wished for a recipe that could celebrate their long loveliness, so the pickle idea is a welcome one.

  7. Posted June 21, 2009 at 7:29 PM | Permalink

    I’ve seen the garlic scapes at the farmers market and our local grocery store. The garlic ones look the best. YUM!

  8. Todd Hart
    Posted June 22, 2009 at 6:23 AM | Permalink

    I read about these on Friday. On Saturday I had about 20 scapes from a friends garden (she was just throwing them away). I made the pesto that night and it was amazing. Thanks for a great site.

  9. Erica Richards
    Posted June 22, 2009 at 10:54 AM | Permalink

    I like my scapes simply cut up and tossed in my salad. Refreshing & crunchy!

  10. Posted June 24, 2009 at 9:55 PM | Permalink

    Wonderful wonderful! They are gorgeous on the pizza. Love that you grilled them first.

    I am very remiss in the garlic scape category. Really must try to grab some before too late, if it isn’t already too late. University District Farmers Market, here I come (on Saturday).

    Also, love your blog remodel! #5FFB :-) …Susan

  11. Posted June 25, 2009 at 8:59 AM | Permalink

    Oh how I yearn for these garlic scapes I’ve seen popping up everywhere lately. Beautiful photos!

  12. Carol
    Posted June 26, 2009 at 3:18 PM | Permalink

    Please please someone tell me when you pick the scapes. I am getting many different answers to this and I would really like to know..is it when rthey make one complete curl, two complete curls or when they first appear. Mine are ready to do something with. Thanks. Carol

  13. Leslie Haggstrom
    Posted June 27, 2009 at 3:05 PM | Permalink

    Last year was my first intro to garlic scapes…there is a garlic festival in an adjoining town, and all sorts of garlic items were sold, including pickles. Met some other garlic growers and found out I was supposed to remove the scapes …didn’t even know they had a name. Sure enough, last years garlic bulbs were much bigger. Just finished picking the scapes: one minute there were none, then a big rain and whoops! getting ready to pickle them, using a kosher dill package. See how it goes.

  14. Posted July 14, 2009 at 5:51 AM | Permalink

    Beautiful post. I came across it when googling scapes because I chose a bunch as part of my CSA share this week. Love the blog.

  15. Duitch Sloane
    Posted August 15, 2009 at 6:31 PM | Permalink

    what a gorgeous post! I found it by accident, looking for the exact definition of what those odd things I’ve been using actually were. The pizza will be a must try as soon as I find them again. I added them to roasted poblano chilis in the blender for the base of a Zacatecana sauce, and it was a huge success. Much mellower than regular garlic would have been, and a harmonious “green” taste that blended with that of the peppers.

  16. Posted July 13, 2010 at 4:51 PM | Permalink

    Growers often remove the scapes to push the plant’s energy toward bigger bulbs, and when harvested while they are young and tender, the scapes are delicious.

  17. Amy Baron
    Posted July 24, 2010 at 1:46 PM | Permalink

    Guess what I found in my herb garden yesturday….garlic scapes!!

  18. Taryn
    Posted May 18, 2011 at 8:05 AM | Permalink

    I just discovered garlic scapes while living in China. The dish I’ve tried here is prepared with fried red chili and fried egg. As everything here, it requires a lot of oil!

  19. Posted June 12, 2011 at 4:30 PM | Permalink

    Hard-neck garlic grows wild in my yard here in missouri (planted one time and that’s all I had to do). How did the pickled scapes turn out? I make garlic-dill cucumber pickles and my favorite part is the pickled garlic cloves and seeds at the bottom. Although I must say this year I may pesto them…

  20. Bonny
    Posted June 25, 2011 at 10:39 AM | Permalink

    Just made the garlic scape pesto following Dorie’s recipe…it was Ok but somewhat salty. When I came back to your site, I saw that you added lemon juice…that made all the difference. Please specify on your site that you added this…otherwise some people, like me, will simply copy Dorie’s recipe as is.

  21. Posted June 26, 2011 at 8:37 PM | Permalink

    @Bonny – Thanks for the note. Will make the change.

  22. Posted July 4, 2011 at 6:11 AM | Permalink

    A friend gave me a bag of scapes and I’d never heard of them either. Your photos are great and they look delicious!!

  23. Andrea
    Posted July 9, 2011 at 5:12 PM | Permalink

    I just discovered these little beauties today, ate some, and then found your blog. They are amazing! I had them on homemade pizza, but I didn’t cook them first. I used fresh tomato, fresh whole basil leaves and the scapes. They are a fabulous addition and I have to wonder why I’ve never seen them on a restaurant menu before.

  24. Posted July 11, 2011 at 5:42 PM | Permalink

    We are fresh green garlic ( or baby garlic or garlic scapes ) all year around here in Texas. No one believes this. But we can consistently month after month for last six years. If anyone wants FRESH GREEN GARLIC, please send your inquires to kkiratpatel2020@gmail.com

  25. Posted November 6, 2012 at 8:26 PM | Permalink

    Awesome issues here. I’m very glad to look your post. Thank you so much and I am taking a look forward to touch you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?

  26. Posted December 13, 2012 at 10:04 PM | Permalink

    It’s truly very complex in this active life to listen news on TV, so I only use world wide web for that reason, and take the latest information.

  27. Posted January 16, 2013 at 2:43 PM | Permalink

    This blog, “Garlic Scapes | Not Without Salt” was outstanding.
    I’m printing out a clone to show my associates. Regards-Belle

33 Trackbacks

  1. By Garlic Scapes « Red Beans and Whipped Cream on July 2, 2009 at 7:10 AM

    [...] Not Without Salt’s garlic scape post [...]

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  3. [...] Not Without Salt has some very nice photographs along with some tasty recipes and stories about the love of garlic scapes. [...]

  4. By Garlic scapes – What to do? | Geeker on July 5, 2009 at 5:26 PM

    [...] Not Without Salt has some very nice photographs along with some tasty recipes and stories about the love of garlic scapes. [...]

  5. [...] Not Without Salt has some very nice photographs along with some tasty recipes and stories about the love of garlic scapes. [...]

  6. [...] to freeze, jar and dry everything in season I can get my hands on. So far, I’ve frozen chopped garlic scapes and raspberries and canned strawberry jam (not very ‘fruitful’ since I tried to substitute [...]

  7. [...] Market on the way home. There I found what I’d been looking for at the farmer’s market. Garlic scapes! And lobster mushrooms (I’d really been wanting chicken of the woods mushrooms, but these [...]

  8. By Garlic scapes – What to do? at Geeker on August 10, 2009 at 3:53 PM

    [...] Not Without Salt has some very nice photographs along with some tasty recipes and stories about the love of garlic scapes. [...]

  9. [...] to freeze, jar and dry everything in season I can get my hands on. So far, I’ve frozen chopped garlic scapes and raspberries and canned strawberry jam (not very ‘fruitful’ since I tried to substitute [...]

  10. By garlic scapes research « cibo alimentare mangiare on February 28, 2010 at 1:22 PM

    [...] http://www.oldshawfarm.com/recipes/garlic-scapeshttp://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/2009/06/garlic-scape-recipes.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/dining/183arex.htmlhttp://www.mariquita.com/recipes/garlic-scapes.htmlhttp://weblog.clagettfarm.org/2005/06/garlic_scapes_r.htmlhttp://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2006/06/garlic-scape-pesto-weekend-herb.htmlhttp://barbolian.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/garlic-scape-pesto/http://www.doriegreenspan.com/2009/06/i-seem-to-be-on.htmlhttp://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2005-10-01/Garlic-Scapes.aspx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=iPosthttp://www.baristanet.com/food/2004/07/did_you_say_sca.phphttp://yesyellocello.blogspot.com/2004/06/june-scapes.htmlhttp://notwithoutsalt.com/2009/06/18/garlic-scapes/ [...]

  11. [...] what’s a summer vegetable post without a pickle recipe? Not Without Salt pickles garlic scapes, then uses the end product in the tartar sauce accompanying oven-baked onion [...]

  12. [...] you’re feeling ambitious, another foodie blog offers this recipe for pickled garlic scapes: Pickled Garlic [...]

  13. By What Can You Make with Garlic Scapes? on June 16, 2010 at 3:04 PM

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  14. By Garlic Scape & Prosciutto Pizza | Ramble On on June 18, 2010 at 10:15 AM

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  15. By Garlic scapes – great recipes « Local Chow on June 23, 2010 at 6:30 PM

    [...] June 24, 2010 by LocalChow I came across this great blog post which includes numerous ideas  for preparing garlic scapes. These include topping your pizza with scapes, pickling garlic scapes, garlic scape pesto and grilling scapes with sea salt and olive oil. Check out the blog Not Without Salt. [...]

  16. By Garlic Scapes | Columbus Food Adventures on October 20, 2010 at 3:10 PM

    [...] if you see them in the market next year. You may have even had some in your garden. Here are some other ideas for using garlic scapes from the blog ‘not without salt’ (as well as some beautiful [...]

  17. [...] *Garlic Scapes. These are the shoots that grow from the garlic bulb. They are long and kind of intimidating looking. We joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) and picked up our first “share” of vegetables today. One of the items was garlic scapes, an item I had never seen before. Turns out they are pretty tasty if you like a garlicy flavor that is slightly more muted than a garlic clove. Anyways, I substituted these instead of garlic cloves and the flavor was great. I also added them on top of my salad as they are crunchy and with dressing over them, they were a great addition. Next time you see them, give them a try. [...]

  18. [...] The first thing I am doing this week at the market is seeking out more scrapes. The suggestion I got for grilling them as I would asparagus sounds fabulous, as do many of the ideas I found here. [...]

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  20. [...] garlic scape chopped (or 1 garlic clove if scapes are [...]

  21. By Scapes on June 23, 2011 at 12:02 PM

    [...] scape recipes and blogs singing the praise of this wonderful garlic product.  Here are a few: Not without salt blog including recipes Seven things to do with garlic scapes from the Crisper Whisperer Rudy’s garlic scape pesto [...]

  22. By weapons of massdistraction › Scattered Light on June 26, 2011 at 12:03 PM

    [...] was a decent one. I took myself to the St. Paul Farmers Market at 7:30am, to procure local berries, garlic scapes, local cheeses and fresh-baked ciabatta. I called my Dad, wherein we kept up our annual tradition [...]

  23. [...] had waited anxiously for the explosively juicy cherry tomatoes, for the long, curly garlic scapes and especially for the freshly grown berries. How I had longed, all winter, to hear a local folk [...]

  24. By How a CSA can Improve Your Diet | Good Health on July 6, 2011 at 2:56 AM

    [...] you may be eating richly-nutritious rainbow chard and the next week you could be sauteing up some garlic scapes. Your body needs a variety of fruits and vegetables to survive, and CSAs definitely provide a huge [...]

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  27. By Mexican Style, Creamy Taco Chicken Salad | on July 13, 2011 at 1:50 PM

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  28. By garlic scapes research « dolce vita verde on October 24, 2011 at 5:36 PM

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  29. [...] Pickled Garlic Scapes from Not Without Salt [...]

  30. By May Mid-Month Meanderings III | Grow & Resist on May 18, 2012 at 1:44 PM

    [...] are noticeably ginormous. So much so that I pulled one last night (even though it has an obvious garlic scape) because I was convinced it was a giant leek. Nope, green garlic. Which I made into a chimichurri [...]

  31. By Garlic Scapes! « One Leaf at a Time on June 9, 2012 at 3:04 PM

    [...] So this year we planted for the purpose of preserving, and I’ve spent countless hours looking up recipes and techniques for tastes we have not yet tried.  Its exciting to find other uses for plants you have cultivated for their bulbs, or leaves, or fruit.  One of the delicacies I read about was the lovely garlic scape. [...]

  32. [...] it would be a shame just to compost them!  More great scape recipes can be found at the Not Without Salt blog…..check it [...]

  33. By CSA–Week 2* on June 19, 2012 at 3:58 PM

    [...] Pickled Garlic Scapes from Not Without Salt [...]

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