I discovered scapes a few years ago when I lived by Union Square and regularly wandered through the green market. I bought my first bunch and put them in a glass of water on a counter in our living room – I wasn’t sure what to do with them beyond contemplate their slow-twisting cues.
I have since developed a more interactive relationship with scapes. And so, recipe from the same NYT article that Claire referred to in her post on garlic scapes at hand, I recently settled in on a particularly anti-social Friday night with my roommate’s food processor, a favorite jam or two, and a tangle of scapes. The aim? To provide an appetizer for a barbeque the next day. The result? Scape-tastic!
White Bean and Garlic Scape Dip
Adapted from the New York Times
Ingredients:
2/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (~7 scapes) – I used far more scapes than the NYT recipe called for, particularly since I didn’t add any herbs to my beans when I simmered them (see below).
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste – I didn’t go too crazy with the juice, especially because it would’ve created a weird color mixing with the green scapes.
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt, more to taste
Ground black pepper to taste – if there is one thing I like almost as much as garlic, it’s black pepper. Load it up.
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained- I didn’t really follow this instruction. I purchased raw cannellini beans from the Park Slope Food Coop (I couldn’t really find the canned beans, because sometimes I have a hard time finding things there generally, plus I just love that aisle with the giant tubs of beans and oats and pepitas). I soaked them in cool water in my refrigerator overnight and then simmered them over low heat on the stove. I kept my beans a little bit al dente to add a bit more texture to the dip. As alluded to above, you can add some subtle flavor by tossing a bundle of herbs into the beans while simmering; I did not.
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling. I didn’t drizzle either.
Process (punny):
1. In a food processor, process garlic scapes with lemon juice, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process to a rough purée. This can be a bit of a pain – the scapes tend to bunch up near the top of the processor away from the blade. I repeatedly stopped and spooned them back to within chopping range.
2. With motor running, slowly drizzle olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. Pulse in 2 or 3 tablespoons water, or more, until mixture is the consistency of a dip. Add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if desired.
3. On a tip from Junta honcho Claire, I diced cherry tomatoes and added them to the top of the dip for some visual variety.
I served this dip with a fresh baguette. It was gone in about 5 minutes.
I do not believe this