its good that i'm single...

So, remember the CSA? and my vow to make healthy eating less healthy?

Enter Garlic Scape Pesto.

i love pesto... i went so far as to ask for (ok, kind of throw a 5-year-old temper tantrum and INSIST upon) an entire aerogarden for christmas just so i could grow basil in my less-than-sunny apartment so that i could make pesto year-round...

i also love garlic scapes... therefore, when i stumbled upon this post over at the washington post, i knew exactly what last week's scapes were going to be...

all of my requirements - use of a CSA product, lots of FAT and oh yeah, insanely yummy...

be prepared... while scapes are significantly less pungent than actual garlic (i mean, can you imagine doing this with a cup of garlic cloves?????? yikes!), you will still pretty much stink for the next day or so... i suggest only eating if you have a full pack of gum to take to work the next day...

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Garlic Scape Pesto
Courtesy of A Mighty Appetite/Kim O'Donnel/Washington Post (with minor mods by me)

generous 1 cup garlic scapes (stalks only), cut into ¼-inch slices
generous 1/3 cup walnuts
¾ cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmigiano
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp black pepper

Place scapes and walnuts in an electric minichopper and chop until fairly integrated and all pieces are small. (if you are fancy and own a food processor then you can use that too, show off...)
(At this point, i had to seperate my garlic scapes and walnuts into two batches, as my mini-chopper is, well, mini...)

Add oil and continue chopping.

Add salt & pepper (can adjust amounts to suit your tastes, so you may want to start with a little less and i really like salt and pepper) and continue chopping.

Unless you intend to freeze*, add parmesan and chop a little more.

Sample and adjust as desired.

*If you intend to freeze your pesto, leave out the parmesan and either freeze in a thin sheet (for breaking) or in ice cube trays, as shown here. Add parmesan when thawing for use.

Toss about 2 generous tablespoons with about a half - 3/4 c of your favorite pasta... Angel hair works really well when you need a superfast weeknight dinner ;)