Imagine my delight to find garlic scapes at the farmers' market this weekend! Here I had thought that the season for these tender shoots had come and gone without me being able to feast on these perfect greens (I comforted myself with an unexpected batch of fiddlehead ferns). For those of you that don't know, scapes are the flower stalk of the garlic plant that are harvested before they flower so the plant sends its energy into developing the garlic bulb. Picked early in the season, they have a mild garlic taste with hints of earthy asparagus. Yum!
Typically, I indulge in this magical season by feasting on roasted garlic scapes. I like to roast them for a long time so that they are one part meltingly tender and another part garlic crisps. The great thing about scapes is that they don't need much to make a tasty appetizer. In fact, I only ever use olive oil and quality salt. If I feel like getting fancy, I sprinkle some of my 3 Citrus Himalayan Salt over the curled greens.
You'll notice that I didn't specify quantities here. I roast as little as a handful to a whole basketful depending on how many people I'm serving, so the recipe is pretty versatile. Just remember that the more scapes you use, the longer you want to roast them--especially if you want them slightly crispy.
Raw scapes ready for roasting.
Ingredients:
Garlic Scapes
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Place washed scapes on one side of a large sheet of foil and sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Fold other half of foil over the scapes and pinch the open sides closed so that you create a little pouch for the scapes to cook in. Place on a baking sheet and let roast in over for 30 minutes to an hour. Remember, the longer you cook them, the crispier they get, so cook they according to your own preference. Let cool for five minutes before plating. Enjoy!
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