June represents a transition in the year long process of growing your own garlic. Usually by now all the garlic I saved from last year's crop has either been eaten or is ready to compost. I love cooking with garlic so this can be a sad moment. But just when you are out of garlic from one year it is almost time to harvest this year's crop. If you grew hardneck garlic then your garlic plants will be sending up their scape. The scape is a the flower stalk. 

It is a good idea to snap the scapes off of your garlic plants. This will keep the plant from putting energy into producing the flower and send that energy down into the bulb. Scapes just so happen to be delicious too! You can chop them up and use them in place of garlic in any recipe. They have a bright pungent garlic flavor. I really enjoy the crunchy texture that they add to dishes. 

One of my favorite things to do with garlic scapes, is to make scape paste. It is a simple quick way to preserve your scapes for use. I usually make a few jars and pop them in the freezer to use later.

So let's make some Garlic Scape Paste! 

Garlic Scape Paste Recipe

Ingredients:

Garlic Scapes

Lemon

Olive Oil 

Salt 

After you  gather your ingredients, roughly chop your garlic scapes. This will make them easier to blend.

Then add all of your ingredients in a food processor. You could also use a blender if that is all you have. Pulse the ingredients together. You can add more olive oil to get a creamier texture. Add more salt to taste. The lemon, salt and olive oil are used for flavor and for preservation.

After your scape paste is blended, pack it into a mason jar. Pour olive oil over the scape paste until it is just covered. This helps preserve the scape paste and it will help keep it a nice bright green color.

Label the jar lid with the date and contents. Labeling is always an important step when making preserves.

Your scape paste will be good in the fridge for at least one month but usually much longer. I put the extra jars into the freezer and pull them out to defrost as needed. There are no specific measurements for this recipe. You can make a small batch or  a large one depending on how many scapes you have and how you feel. The photo at the top is a pretty good representation of the ratios that I like to use. 

Scape paste is an excellent replacement for garlic. It will be lightly flavored with the lemon and salt. Add it to pasta sauce, stir fry or salad dressing or use it as a spread for a sandwich. Pretty much anything goes with this delicious condiment.

Happy cooking!