Garlic Scape Butter with Herbs

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This Garlic Scape Herb Compound Butter is so very tasty and couldn’t be easier! It enhances the flavor of fish and seafood, vegetables, potatoes, pasta, just about anything you can imagine!

I am so excited about this post! Not because it’s anything terribly special or clever but because Garlic Scapes are my new, favorite food on the planet!

I have always been afraid to try planting garlic because we have very heavy, clay soil. Garlic prefers well drained soils, which we do not have here!

Every year I would go to the garlic festivals in August and just wish. Last year I got my husband on board (because he loves garlic too). So we got 3 or 4 bags of sand from the garden center. We also used peat moss, pea stone and some topsoil I had leftover from spring planting. He got out the backhoe and went to town.

How to plant garlic

Any excuse to get out the heavy equipment and he is in! I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before!!

So I planted 18 cloves from the garlic I got at the garlic festival; a variety of cultivars, just to see which ones liked our soil best!

I was so excited when I saw them come up this Spring! I watched for garlic scapes (the stalk of and flower bud) carefully. They can not flower or the flower will take the nutrients from the bulb and the bulbs will be smaller. So you cut off the buds and stalks.

Too my further delight, in mid June the scapes finally appeared. I have been looking at other bloggers’ posts with envy every year with all the garlic scape recipes. I have never found them at the farmer’s market. Apparently, the farmers don’t know there is a demand for them.

What are garlic scapes?

Garlic Scapes are the flower bud and the stalk of the flower of the garlic plant. If the garlic “scapes” are not removed from the leaves, the flower will take nutrients from the bulb, so that the bulb of the garlic will be very small. Therefore, it is important to break or cut the garlic scapes off, before they flower.

Anyhoo, enough about garlic planting.. on to my Garlic Scape Herb Compound Butter! Garlic Scapes have a very mild flavor. No bitterness to be found! Not exactly like roasted garlic, but reminiscent. It couldn’t be easier to make either.

How to make it

1. Let your butter come to room temperature. Chop the garlic scapes fairly small, both the buds and the stalks.
2. Saute the garlic scapes for a few minutes in just a tad of olive oil, just to soften. You don’t want them to brown or lose their glorious color! Then let them come to room temperature.
3. Chop a bit of chives and parsley.
4. Chop basil. Oregano, sage and thyme would be great too, depending on the flavor profile you are looking for.
5. Add herbs and cooled garlic scapes to butter.
6. Mix well.
7. Place waxed paper on cookie sheet. Spread butter mixture evenly in a thin layer.
8. Place another sheet of waxed paper on top.



Freeze Garlic Scape Butter overnight. Place in storage bag and freeze. Break off a piece, when needed, for cooking.

Culinary uses for garlic scapes

What to make with garlic scape butter



Use the Garlic Scape Herb Compound Butter on fresh vegetables, here on mixed summer squash. It is also great on fish, seafood, meats.



Quick and easy variation of bruschetta or garlic bread is also great! This Garlic Scape Bread is crunchy and delicious! Check out my friend Laura Tobin’s post from Your Guardian Chef, for a great tutor on bruschetta!

What else to make scapes

You also might like these other awesome recipes I’ve made with garlic scapes! Chicken Florentine Pizza with Garlic Scape Pesto, Garlic Scape Pesto, Shrimp Pasta Salad with Garlic Scape Pesto.

Love Gardening? If you love growing your own produce, these posts are packed full of information about how to get that big harvest by the end of the season! Don’t miss How to Start a Garden Series! The first part is Planning Your Garden!

Second is Preparing the Garden Site.

The third is Choosing Plants and Planting Your Garden.

The fourth is Garden Maintenance, and the last is Harvesting a Garden and Preserving the Harvest, this post has over 100 FREE recipes for preserving your harvest!



I hope you enjoyed the post today! Leave a comment below and let me know if you have used garlic scapes and what your favorite recipes for garlic scapes are!

Tools I use

Contains affiliate links, for full disclosure, see FTC Disclosure, here.

• Cutting board
• Pots
• Herb Scissors

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy! And have fun cooking!




Garlic Scape Herb Compound Butter
This Garlic Scape Herb Compound Butter is easy with a beautifully mild garlic flavor!
See Step by Step Photos Above!Most of our recipes have step by step photos and videos! Also helpful tips so that you can make it perfectly the first time and every time! Scroll up to see them!
5 from 12 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 32 tablespoons
Calories: 3402kcal
Author: Beth Neels
Cost: $2
Ingredients
• 1 lb unsalted butter, softened to room temperature.
• 1/2 c garlic scape, buds and stalks, chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 splash Olive Oil
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
• Chop garlic scapes roughly in food processor or with chef's knife. Chop herbs.
• Soften garlic in olive oil over medium low heat, watching carefully. Garlic should just soften, not brown. Once garlic has softened, allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add butter, garlic and herbs together. Mix thoroughly. Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap. Cool in refrigerator or store in freezer to prolong shelf life.
Food Processor
Notes
Refrigerate up to 10 days.
Freeze to preserve. place butter in freezer bags. Smash with hands to flatten butter. Remove a few tablespoons, as needed, by breaking off chunks.
Purchase garlic scapes at Farmer's Markets, Farm Stands or select grocers.
Nutrition
Calories: 3402kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 369g | Saturated Fat: 233g | Cholesterol: 975mg | Sodium: 3258mg | Potassium: 150mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 12115IU | Vitamin C: 39.1mg | Calcium: 289mg | Iron: 2.1mg
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