What to Make With Leek Scapes and Garlic Scapes

For about five years now, I have been harvesting our garlic scapes and making garlic scape pesto (see our article with the recipe). This is the first year I've harvested leek scapes, although I've been growing leeks for several years and have noticed they develop a flower on top, similar to garlic and onions. Last year, I observed that our local natural foods grocery store, Country Aire, had bundles of leek scapes for sale in their produce section. At the time, I hadn't known that the flower and stem of a leek are called a scape, similar to garlic, so when I saw the sign on the basket of leek scapes in the store, I was super excited and decided that I would harvest my leek scapes the following year (which is now) and make something with them.

Above is my harvest. The tall, long scapes at the front are from leeks. Behind the leeks are the curly garlic scapes. Only hardneck garlic varieties produce a scape. You should always harvest garlic scapes when they are still curled, as once they uncurl and grow tall and straight, they become tough. Leek scapes start out straight and stay straight; you just want to harvest them when they are young, and the flower is still tightly closed, as shown here. Additionally, the stems of both should feel tender rather than woody.

Now that I have harvested these, I'm wondering: what can I make with leek scapes? As you can see, I have a fairly nice-sized bundle. They have a lovely, sweet smell, similar to chives. I can imagine they would provide a nice flavoring for many dishes. Of course, I could also make a pesto. But besides pesto, I'm wondering what else I might consider making? Once I've decided, I'll return to this article and update it with a few photos of what we made and some additional ideas.

One last note: I did leave a few of the leek and garlic plants alone, with their scapes still on top, so that they could flower. The bees just love the flowers of alliums, which include everything in the onion family: onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, scallions, and chives. This is also how you can ensure you always have more growing in your garden: once they flower, the flowers fall to the ground, and the bulbils in the garlic flowers and the seeds in the leek flowers will grow into new plants.