It's Time for Green Garlic!

For a few weeks each spring, savvy farmers market shoppers can find a seasonal treat they won't generally find in stores: fresh green garlic. This vegetable, which bears resemblance to a small leek, is catching fire among those who are familiar with its versatile qualities.

Green garlic is actually immature garlic harvested prior to producing cloves. The tall woody green stalk tapers to a single pale white bulb, sometimes with a slight rose hue. It can be used in any recipe that calls for mature garlic, though its flavor is milder and more delicate than the cloves of the adult bulb.

Last Sunday morning, on my regular pilgrimage to the year-round Civic Center Farmers Market in San Rafael, I was happy to find not only green garlic but also fresh organic basil. I brought both home and married them with a few additional ingredients to create a mouth-watering pesto. Tossed generously with fresh pasta that evening, this heavenly green sauce garnered raves from my family.

KAREN'S GREEN GARLIC PESTO

• 3 to 5 stalks fresh green garlic (depending on how much garlic flavor you like.)
• 2 bunches organic basil, rinsed
• 1 cup grated high quality parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts 
• organic cold-pressed virgin olive oil

1. Lightly rinse green garlic stalks and cut off the roots. Slice the white bulb and light green portion of the stalk. Discard the dark-green woody top.

2. Place basil leaves, sliced green garlic, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor. On low speed, blend these ingredients while slowly adding drizzles of olive oil to achieve the desired consistency.

*You will need to stop once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl, then resume on slow speed until all ingredients are incorporated.

Serve tossed with your favorite pasta, as an appetizer spread on warm rustic bread slices topped with fresh mozzarella and roasted tomatoes, or as a dressing/dip for veggies, chicken, or seafood--the possibilities are as varied as your imagination.

Freeze left over pesto in ice cube trays, then place cubes in freezer proof bags to use like fresh whenever the mood strikes.