Lemon balm growing in the garden, garlic scapes in this week’s CSA share, shrimp in the freezer, lots of pasta in the pantry…..
VOILA!!!!!!
Garlic scapes you ask?
So did I………….so I researched and found a recipe for garlic scape
lemon balm pesto from (Grow a Good Life website)
and it just all came together.
Keeping the lemon theme going, I decided to use the
salad dressing recipe from my recent post
for Houston’s Chicken Salad. I just switched out the lime
for lemon and cut the recipe in half, which I posted in the
recipe below for convenience. However,
I would make the full recipe next time, it is just
SO GOOD and would work well for chicken as
did the lime version.
a convergence of pantry items, garden offerings and CSA weekly shares for the perfect summer meal, no heating up the kitchen on a hot summer night.
- 10 peeled, deveined shrimp fresh or frozen
- 8 ounces pasta, dried or fresh I used angel hair but you can use any type
- 1 cup garlic scapes, see notes for substitutions
- 1/4 cup nuts, any type I used pistachio today
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil extra to drizzle, if pasta too dry
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon balm leaves, see notes for substitutions
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese may use different type of hard cheese
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp coarse black pepper
- 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh tastes best
- 2 tsp honey mustard, optional I don’t use, don’t like the flavor
- 3 TBSP honey
- 2 TBSP oil, flavorless I use grapeseed but you could use veg, canola
- 1 garlic clove, minced fresh or jar
- 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- extra olive oil for stirring
- extra parmesan for topping
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Combine all ingredients for lemon-honey dressing in a bowl and whisk to combine.
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Marinate shrimp in lemon-honey dressing ~ 30 min to 1 hr prior to grilling, stirring occasionally.
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Trim off below the bulbous end and trim root end of the garlic scapes, both ends are fibrous and tough to chew.
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Cut the scapes into ~ 1″ pieces. Trim stems from the lemon balm.
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In a food processor or blender, pulse garlic scapes until they are large minced size.
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Add nuts and pulse until combined ~ 10-15 sec. Scrape bowl as needed.
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With the food processor running, slowly add olive oil through top to blend, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed to fully combine.
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Add the lemon balm, cheese, salt, and pepper and process for desired consistency. Season as needed.
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Grill shrimp, basting with the dressing to create a glaze as it is charring. Should take ~ 6-8 minutes for shrimp to be cooked, turning a couple of times for basting purposes.
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Prepare pasta per package. Drain pasta and transfer to serving bowl. Best to do this once shrimp have been cooked on the grill.
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Add pesto and blend, adding additional olive oil as needed to combine evenly.
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Plate the pasta and add a bonus drizzle of olive oil for glistening, Top with added parmesan. Top with shrimp.
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For a final dash of freshness, squeeze some fresh lemon juice around. EASY PEEZY, LEMON SQUEEZY!
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For vegetarian, omit shrimp, obviously!
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Bonus: my husband prepped garlic bread that we grilled. ciabatta, buttered with garlic powder, paprika and parsley.
- garlic scapes-may sub in scallions, chives, leeks for similar mild garlicky/oniony flavor
- lemon balm-may sub any hearty greens such as arugula, kale, parsley, basil
- if you do sub for lemon balm, you can add some lemon juice for brightness and just taste as you add a bit at a time so it is not over lemony
- to save even more time, skip the dressing and marinate the shrimp in the pesto with some added olive oil or simply grill shrimp as is and brush with the pesto afterward
- save and use garlic scape trimmings to add to stocks to glean the mild garlic flavor. Can be frozen for later use.
- may use any nut of choice, does not have to be toasted but would add a nice level of complexity
- choose any hard cheese to compliment your dish based on level of saltiness, nuttiness, etc.
- pesto can be made ahead cutting down the time it will take to put together this amazing meal.
- pesto will freeze very well and best to store in smaller batches then you can use it for various recipes without having to use all of it at one time
- pair the pesto with crostini and garden tomatoes for an appetizer
