Pickled Garlic Scape Recipe
It's garlic scape season! Whether you grow your own garlic or you get it from your local farmer, it goes fast. One of the best ways to enjoy scapes is to preserve them for later use. Between garlic scape pesto, chopping it up in stir fries or salads, this year I'm going to pickle mine. Here is a simple way to preserve your garlic Scapes:
Pickled Garlic Scapes:
Ingredients:
As many garlic scapes as you can get your hands on! (About 10-12 per pint-sized Mason Jar).
3 cups apple cider vinegar
3 cups water
3 Tbsp pickling salt
1 Tbsp pickling spice per jar
Instructions:
Prepare your jars: Collect the number of jars you think you will need based on how many scapes you have to pickle. Inspect jars to ensure there are no nicks or cracks in the glass, especially around the jar rim as this can prevent a proper seal. Wash jars and bands in hot, soapy water, rinse and then sterilize by simmering in water.
Prepare your scapes: Rinse off any dirt, chop any hard, knobby ends off and trim the bulb end off (this is optional. You can leave the bulb end on but it might be tougher to eat and takes up extra space in the jar).
Combine water, vinegar and salt in a saucepan and boil over medium-high heat until salt is fully dissolved.
Fill each jar with garlic scapes. To fill, coil each garlic scape as tight as possible around two fingers and stack them tightly in the jar. Pack to within just over a ½ inch from the top of the jar.
Add 1 Tbsp of pickling spice to each jar.
Fill each jar with boiling pickling brine (water-vinegar-salt mixture) to cover garlic scapes, leaving ½ inch of headspace between the liquid and the top of the jar.
Place lids on top of jars and then screw bands on to "fingertip tight," which means tight to the point of resistance, but not so tight that air can't escape.
Process in a boiling hot water bath for 10 minutes. Then turn heat off, take lid off and wait 5 minutes before removing jars. You can omit this step if you're going to use them within 3 month.
Allow jars to cool on counter. Then store in a cool, dark place.
Wait 6 weeks before opening a jar to ensure best quality.
Notes
For the brine, just make sure to combine equal parts water and vinegar and adjust your salt to match (ie. 4 cups vinegar to 4 cups water to 4 Tbsp salt). This recipe calls for 3 cups of each and 3 Tbsp of salt, which I found should fill about 3 or 4 pint-sized jars. But you can adjust the amount of brine depending on the number of jars you are able to pack full of scapes!
