No Escaping Monday

Monday morning glitches prevented yesterday’s blog posting but there’s no escaping the recipe I promised to share. For those of you lucky enough to have planted garlic last fall, it’s time to check for the seedpods starting to sprout. Known as ‘garlic scapes’, these pods are coming out a tad early this year; just like everything else in the garden. They usually form in July but in our garlic patch, we’ve already clipped and stored them in the fridge for recipes.

The trick is to remove these pods when they are young and tender. When clipping them, you also put energy into forming the garlic bulb. No fretting. If you didn’t plant garlic in the garden, you might be lucky enough to find these scapes at a farmers market.

So back to the pasta and garlic scape recipe; here’s what you will need:

4 Garlic Scapes (Finely Chopped)

1 small zucchini (Chopped)

2 broccoli florets (apprx. ½ lb. chopped into small pieces)

¼ cup of water

½ cup of freshly grated Romano Cheese (you can substitute Asiago or Parmesan cheese)

6 oz. of Penne

1 Tablespoon Capers

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Butter

Salt

Fresh ground pepper

Boil your water for the Penne. While cooking the Penne, stir fry your Broccoli florets in 2 tablespoons of cooking Olive oil. Throw a dash of salt on the broccoli to keep its green color. Once seared, throw in the chopped zucchini and garlic scapes. Add ¼ cup of water and cover to steam until tender. Reduce heat to low and toss in cooked Penne with a ¼ cup of pasta water, 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of good quality extra virgin Olive oil and 1 tablespoon of drained Capers. Stir in ½ cup of grated cheese. Toss and serve immediately. Add freshly ground pepper to taste. For those of you who prefer a zip of lemon, you could drizzle a ½ of a freshly squeezed lemon over the dish before serving. You could also dress with some finely chopped Italian Parsley or fresh basil from your kitchen garden, adding some additional zest.

So there you have it - a simple recipe with a part of the garlic that is often ignored. You can use these scapes for soups, salads, and many other culinary creations.

To end Tuesday’s post with a quote that absolutely fits this whole scape thing, Junot Diaz sums it up best. “But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in.”

Top image of a lonely Garlic Scape left in the garden by Ann Bilowz

Second image of cut garlic scapes from the garden by Ann Bilowz

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