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Scape experiments would not be complete without the de-rigueur pesto. And so I pulled out the food processor, olive oil and parmesan.
After the hake and kale, I didn’t have enough scapes left to make a full batch of pesto. But the basil is coming in; it seemed like the perfect marriage – scape-basil pesto! The scapes would replace the garlic in the more traditional version. Honestly, though, my pesto isn’t very traditional… it’s really just an herb oil, as I don’t like nuts. Nonetheless, moving forward…………..
With pesto in mind, I need something to put under it. Tomato soup seemed the perfect foil, especially since I still have plenty of jars left from last summer, and I will be canning this year’s stash in just a few weeks hence.
The flavors of the pesto were pronounced without being overpowering. I could taste the basil, garlic and tomatoes. The scapes had the spicy raw garlic flavor, though it didn’t linger in a way that raw garlic can. And with tomato soup, one must have grilled cheese! And so, I made lunch…
Tomato Soup, Scape-Basil Pesto and Grilled Cheese
Tomato Soup
1 tbs. butter
1 shallot
2 garlic cloves
¼ cup white wine
2 cups stewed tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock or water
Salt and pepper to taste
1. In a soup pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallots and cook for 5 mimutes, or until soft. Add wine. Then add tomatoes and stock.
2. Simmer for 10 minutes (longer if using tinned tomatoes). Puree
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Scape-Basil “Pesto”
4 scapes
1 handful basil
¼ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup olive oil
Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste
1. Combine all ingredients in a few processor. Blend until mostly smooth but a little chunky. Season to taste with salt pepper and lemon juice. Drizzle on top of soup.
Grilled Cheese
4 slices baguette
¼ cup grated cheese
1 tbs. butter
Spread butter on bread. Put bread, butter side down in an oven proof dish. Put cheese on top. Bake at 400 until cheese is melted. Serve with soup and pesto.
I'm submitting this recipe to Andrea's Recipe's "Grow Your Own" Blogging event. Check out her site to see what other folks from the blogosphere are cooking up from their gardens.
Mixing the scapes with the basil also escapes some of the, um, scape-iness which is a little overpowering, at least to my taste.
That looks a whole lot better than my attempt at scape pesto! (http://forkitoverboston.blogspot.com/2010/06/linguine-with-sauteed-swiss-chard-and.html) Tomato soup and grilled cheese is one of my favorite meal combos, so I think I might use your recipe and give the pesto another try 🙂
Pesto in tomato soup? Ingenious. Or maybe a pesto and cheese sandwich with tomato soup.
I expect I will get more “scapes” this weekend, so I’m going to give this a try! Love the tomato soup recipe!
Healthy soup delicious I think this lunch I will try this.
The combination of tomato soup and scapes to me is nothing short of fantastic. I’ve not seen scapes at the farmer’s market this year and am starting to panic.
I like the combination of basil and scapes in the pesto, and what a perfect idea to put it in tomato soup. I like lots of flavor in tomato soup, too, and this sounds wonderful.