Our garden got off to a slow start this year with a month and a half of rain and temperatures cold enough that we had fires in the fireplace to read by on many evenings. Now the real summer weather seems to have set in, and the garden is happily sunbathing. Cherries are blushing on the tree, tiny zucchini are forming from their flamboyant blossoms, and we can't keep up with the strawberries. (More on those rascals in another post.) The black currants are ripening this week in the greatest profusion we have yet seen. With the hot weather comes the hot, steamy, neverending work of jam-making.
One of our garden experiments this year is garlic, which is surprisingly easy to grow. It gets planted in the fall, and over the winter it grows tall plants that look just like onions. Then as it gets close to being ready to harvest, it grows elegantly twisting stems and seedheads called scapes. We first saw them last summer at a farmers market and brought some home to try in soups and omelets. This year we have our own. It seemed as if they would never develop as we watched as patiently as we could. Then suddenly there they were, serpentine and surrealistic.
Last night they were ready to cut. It's important to cut them soon enough to allow the plant to redirect its energy into forming the garlic bulb and to make sure they're tender enough to cook with. We'd been looking forward to using them for pesto, and the results were well worth the wait. The garden served us dinner tonight: garlic scape pesto over pasta and a salad made from our buttercrunch lettuce, strawberries, and green onions. All the work and the sweat and the dirt of gardening are worth it when you bite into something you've grown for yourself. Suddenly you realize that lettuce actually does have flavor--it's not just a receptacle for salad dressing.
The pesto is all the more delicious because it is a once a year event. It is reason enough to grow garlic, and it's super nutritious. I'm already looking forward to next year's batch!
Garlic Scape Pesto
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- a dozen garlic scapes, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil (approximate)
- 3 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
- salt and pepper
- water to smooth out if needed
In a food processor pulse walnuts until finely chopped but not powder. Add scapes and pulse until combined, scrape down the sides and pulse again. With food processor going, stream in olive oil until you have a really thick consistency. Add cheese, and pulse to combine. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.
Toss with whole wheat pasta and chopped fresh tomatoes.
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