Garlic Scape and Basil Pizza Sauce

Have you heard of garlic scapes?  I hadn’t until about three years ago.  As the garlic bulb grows and matures in the soil, the tendril that shoots out of the ground is called a garlic scape.  It is the flowering portion of the garlic bulb, but no actual flowers are produced.  If the scapes are just left to grow, they will continue to increase in size, but they will divert the necessary nutrients from the garlic bulb, resulting in a tiny bulb.  These scapes should be cut off in order to allow the garlic bulb to grow.  If these scapes are harvested while they are young, they are tender and perfect for eating in all sorts of ways. You can eat them raw, diced up in salads or make a tasty pesto from them.  I opted to sauté them and turn them into the main flavor profile for a pizza sauce.  Dave from my “Pizzas with Dave” series was hosting a ‘family reunion’ for our Border’s Crew.  We get together every few months and have a big party.  At least annually we end up at his house to make pizzas.  Tradition is such that he provides the dough and I always make the sauce.  Hence, garlic scape pizza sauce was born.When it came time to puree the garlic scapes, onions, and garlic, I used an immersion blender.  I like the more ‘chunky’ feel of the sauce, however, if you want a smoother sauce, use a freestanding blender to puree the ingredients together.For prepping the garlic scapes, I removed the bottom portion, much like asparagus, because it is thick and coarse.  I also removed the top portion where there was a bulb-like piece.  I diced up everything in between.  I probably used eight garlic scapes to make one cup, but this will vary because the length of each garlic scape can vary.

A note about salt and pepper, I always say ‘to taste’ because these ingredients are based on personal taste.  Unlike canned tomato sauce, tomato puree is purely tomatoes that have simply been pureed.  The only salt in them is what is naturally occurring in the tomato.  Therefore, being generous with the salt is needed.  I did not measure my salt.  I shook the shaker a few times, cooked a bit longer, tasted, did a few more shakes, cooked it a bit longer, and tasted.  I did this probably four or five times.  If I was to hazard a guess, I probably used close to a teaspoon of salt.  By no means am I suggesting for you to start with this amount of salt.  Just add a bit at a time and allow it make its way into the sauce and taste.  You’ll find your correct balance.