Garlic Scape and Potato Soup

My life doesn’t always cooperate with the timing of harvests. I work outside the home as a food stylist so it’s inevitable that the time a nice harvest is due I will get a week-long job to pull me away from the garden.

I’ve learned to live with it. I try not to regret the waste because honestly, a garden is pretty darn cheap to plant and the abundance is often overwhelming. However, there are certain harvests that are particularly special.

Garlic scapes.

This harvest happens one time a year and you only get the number of scapes as the garlic you planted in the fall. One garlic clove = one garlic scape. The time is fleeting but I’ve found you can preserve scapes in your refrigerator by using these green bags. Mine kept well in the forgotten back of the fridge for several weeks until I unearthed them while cleaning out.

Not all of them were in pristine condition but there was no way I was wasting them. I decided to make a version of potato “leek” soup with them. In fact, if it’s not scape season, feel free to use leeks in place of the scapes for this recipe.

The process is simple. Sauté the scapes and celery until tender in a separate pan while you boil the potatoes and cauliflower in the bone broth. Add the scapes and celery to the boiling mixture and cook until all is tender. Use an immersion blender to smooth it all out into a velvety cream soup. (You can blend the soup in batches in your Wolf Gourmet high speed blender for this if you have one! If you don’t, stay tuned for a giveaway starting 8/12/16!) I keep a few potatoes out because I like some pieces in mine but that’s personal preference. Add the potato pieces back in once everything is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

A few notes:
I use avocado oil or bacon grease for sautéing. The smoke point is high which means the oils aren’t oxidizing as quickly.
I substituted some cauliflower because 1) I like it 2) It cuts down on the carby factor of the soup.
The scapes can be substituted with leeks, if you like.

I also reserved a few pieces of scapes to fry in ghee for the topping. It made a wonderful garlicy oil to drizzle overtop the soup. (This is optional.) To make it, add about ¼ cup of chopped scapes to ¼ cup ghee in a small sauté pan. Carefully fry until lightly browned. Sprinkle scapes and drizzle oil over the top of each serving.

Garlic Scape and Potato Soup

 

Author:

mrfarmersdaughter.com

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Ingredients

• 2 Tbls. avocado oil
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 cup garlic scapes, chopped
• 6 cups baking potatoes, chopped
• 3 cups cauliflower, cut into florets
• 4 cups bone broth
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
• Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Saute’ celery and scapes in avocado oil until tender.
2. Bring pot of broth to a boil with baking potatoes and cauliflower, until tender.
3. When scapes and celery are tender, add to cooking pot.
4. When potatoes and cauliflower are tender, blend with an immersion blender or by putting batches into a blender. Be careful with the blender and hot liquid.
5. When soup is smooth, stir in half and half.
6. Optional: If making garlic oil, see above directions.
7. Optional: Top with scape oil and sautéed scapes.

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