Garlic Scape Pesto
10 garlic scapes
1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts
1/3 cup Parmesan (optional)
1/2 lemon juiced
1/3 cup olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
a couple grinds of pepper
Trim the tails of the scapes off, keeping the bulb. Roughly chop the scapes into chunks. In processor, add scapes, nuts, cheese and lemon juice. Pulse blend until the food begins to break down. Scrape sides down and add oil, salt and pepper. Process for another minute. Can be kept in the refrigerator for a week.
Helpful tip!
Pesto can be eaten on pasta, pizza, toast and sandwiches, and as a dip!
To keep pesto longer you can freeze it in ice cube trays or freezer friendly containers (pesto will expand in freezer). After frozen in ice cube trays you can pop them out into a container or zip lock to be kept in the freezer, able to be used small amounts at a time.
Green Goddess Pesto Pasta Salad
1 12 oz. box pasta of choice: fusilli, penne, farfelle
2 cups Garlic scape pesto (see recipe above)
4 leaves kale
1 cup snow or snap peas
1/2 cup shelled peas
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup canned or cooked chick peas
1/4 cup parsley
1/4 cup mint
Boil water for pasta (follow instructions on box). De-stem the kale and roll up to be chopped into thin ribbons. Snap the tails of the snow peas and chop each pea pod in half. Chop broccoli into small florets. Place kale, peas, shelled peas, broccoli and chick peas in bowl to the side.
When the pasta is done cooking, strain it and quickly put back into the pot so that it is still wet with hot water. Toss in bowl of kale, peas, broccoli and chick peas and mix in with noodles. Place a cap on top for a couple minutes so that the vegetables get lightly steamed.
In the meantime, finely chop parsley and mint.
When the vegetables are lightly cooked, mix the pesto in thoroughly. After the pasta salad has cooled a little, add in the fresh herbs and serve warm or cold. Great as leftovers!
Helpful tip!
This is a big meal for a family or a great potluck dish. The ingredients can also be cut in half for a smaller household. It will keep in the fridge for 3 or 4 days.
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