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Pickled garlic scape recipe

pickled garlic scape recipe

Garlic scapes are one of those ingredients that you really only get if you garden. You can buy scapes from businesses that specifically grow garlic, and in the US they seem to be a regular short season crop available at farmers markets but they are certainly not something you are going to see in every supermarket.

The scape is the flowering shoot of hard necked garlic - they appear, spiralling up like serpents, about two weeks before harvest time. They need to be removed for growing reasons - the shoot takes energy that you want to go into the bulb - so it is a great added boon that they also taste amazing.

garlic scapes growing

My go to way of using scapes is to chop finely, gently cook them in butter and mix with just cooked new potatoes. It is the simplest, most delicious and most obvious way of using them - I mean otherwise why would garlic scapes and the first potatoes be ready at the same time?

But that uses up about 1/10 of my crop so here is another very delicious way to use them up.

Pickled Garlic Scapes

You need

1 litre Pickle jar that is vinegar resistant
Enough scapes to fill the jar (15-20) One and half cups of apple cider vinegar (350 ml)
6 teaspoons of salt
6 teaspoons of sugar
One and a half cups of water (350 ml)

pickled garlic scapes recipe

Method

Sterilise your jar by washing in a hot dishwasher
Tightly pack the scapes into the jar, curling them round and squashing down.
Cut shorter lengths to fill the space in the middle.
Heat the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a pan until the sugar and salt dissolve.
Pour the liquid into the jar, gently shaking it so that the air bubbles escape.
Make sure that all the scapes are covered in liquid.
Seal the jar and leave to cool.
Keep in the fridge for 4 weeks before tasting and up to six months.

garlic scapes in jar

The scapes will get less crunchy as they age but the taste remains the same - they are great as a tangy side with cheeses, salamis and also with grain dishes - I love them chopped up and stirred through barley alongside preserved lemon, herbs and roasted peppers.

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