Pan Seared Balsamic Zucchini Pasta with Garlic Scape Pesto… You know those meals that you dream of, that make you salivate just at the thought of? This is one of those recipes for me.

I went to visit Sisser recently and when we parted ways at her house there was a note on the counter from Jimmy Jimster. “Offer your mom and sister to take home artichokes and/or garlic scapes. They are in the fridge.” You don’t need to ask me twice. “I’d love some of each!” I exclaimed to Sisser.

When I got my garlic scapes home I started wondering what to do with them. My first recipe was whipping up a batch of garlic scape mayo to dip those delicious artichokes in. Then I remembered a garlic scape pesto that The Hubs and I bought when on vacation on Vancouver Island. I set to Pinterest (you can follow me on Pinterest here) to look for a recipe.

I found my inspiration at Vegan Yumy Yum where I found a recipe for Baby Summer Squash Two Ways.

The next time I headed to our community garden plot I was happy to find these beautiful baby summer squash and my first thought was “I HAVE to try that recipe.”

So I present to you Menu Card #6.

Read all about my Menu Board here and find Menu Cards 1-5 here.

INGREDIENTS 

For Pan Seared Balsamic Zucchini Pasta:

• Pasta of your choice (We used penne)
• 4 or 5 baby zucchini/summer squash
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Balsamic vinegar

For Garlic Scape Pesto:

• Handful of garlic scapes
• Handful of almonds
• Handful of parmesan cheese
• Handful of basil
• Sprinkle of kosher salt
• Juice of half a lemon
• A glug glug of olive oil

DIRECTIONS

For Pan Seared Balsamic Zucchini Pasta:

Visit Vegan Yumy Yum for her recipe for Pan Seared Balsamic Summer Squash Pasta. The only change that I made was adding a bit more balsamic vinegar… because I love the stuff.

For Garlic Scape Pesto:

You can also head over to Vegan Yumy Yum and follow her recipe for Garlic Scape Pesto… but I changed mine up a bit. I’m sure you either chuckled or thought What The… when you read the ingredients for my garlic scape pesto. Let me preface this by saying that I make huge batches of pesto every single summer, freeze it into cubes and use it throughout the winter. When cooking I’m a huge fan of eyeballing things. A handful of this, a pinch of that… use what you have on hand. That kind of thing. My pesto is a bit different every time but every time it is SO DELICIOUS. You don’t need to sit there with a measuring spoon when making pesto. Make it, taste it, if it’s missing a flavor add more.

In my garlic scape pesto I use almonds instead of pine nuts and I added some basil. I didn’t have as many garlic scapes as the original recipe called for so I decided to add basil instead making it a more traditional pesto.

Step 1: Take out your food processor.

Step 2: Throw in a big handful of garlic scapes, a handful of almonds, a handful of parmesan cheese, a handful of fresh basil leaves a pinch of kosher salt and juice from half a lemon. Blend.

Step 3: Add a bit of olive oil. I usually pour from the bottle and wait for it to go “glug glug”. I would guess that it’s about 1/3 cup. You can add more or less olive oil depending on how thick or liquidy you want your pesto to be.

Step 4: Toss with your garlic scape pesto with warm pasta and pan seared balsamic zucchin. Serve and enjoy… it really is delicious!

P.S. If you have extra pesto freeze it in cubes, transfer to a ziploc bag and thaw as needed.

Tell me… Do you grow vegetables? What are some of your favorite meals to make with the food that you grow?