Those beloved Garlic Scapes! Plus 2 Scape Recipes

The pig-tailed curly greens you've taken home...They're the immature seedheads of hard-neck garlic.  We remove them so that the plants can put more energy into producing larger garlkic heads, rather than seeds.   AND they're oh so wonderful!   We wish the season for them was longer, but it is very short, so enjoy them now!   Try them chopped coarsely for a delicious garlicy crunch in your salads and stir-fries.

And here's a recipe sent in by a CSA member to help you utilize all those scapes and spinach this week.

Garlic Scape Soup
from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking
I have never tried it but I have wanted to.....

2 Tbsp clarified butter or extra virgin olive oil
2 dozen garlic scapes, chopped with flower bud discarded
3 large russet potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
5 cups vegetable stock or water
2 large handfuls of spinach leaves stemmed
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
1/4 c cream (optional)
optional garnish with chive blossoms

Heat fat in a large saucepan over medium heat, then add scapes and
saute for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and stock, cover and simmer for
20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through and beginning to
break down.
Remove from heat and add the spinach. Puree using a hand blender or
other blending device (blender or food processor taking care that hot
liquids can easily explode). Season with lemon juice, salt, and
pepper. Whisk in cream if you are using and more salt if the taste is
too flat (in my experience/opinion, potatoes need quite a bit of
salt).
Serve hot or cold.

Garlic Scape Pesto
(recipe adapted from a combination of online sources - http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com)

1/2 cup garlic scapes, finely chopped
4 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cups grated parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Put garlic scapes and lemon juice in bowl of food processor with steel blade, and process until scapes are very finely chopped. With food processor running, add oil through the feed tube and process 2-3 minutes. Remove lid, add half of parmesan cheese and process 2 minutes, then add the rest of cheese and salt and process 2-3 minutes more.

Serve tossed with hot pasta. This would also be good on fish, as a topping for bread, or as a seasoning for cooked rice.