Easy garlic scape pesto is slathered on a keto cauliflower crust, sprinkled with generous smears of goat cheese and juicy, fragrant sundried tomatoes. The easiest weeknight dinner!
Jump to:
The Easiest Garlic Scape Pesto Recipe
The secret to this perfect, easy keto pizza is my easy garlic scape pesto recipe.
Made in minutes in the food processor, this simple recipe follows the makings of traditional pesto - but with the punchy flavor of fresh garlic scapes!
This sauce seriously packs a punch! It's fragrant, cheesy, herbaceous and salty, a balanced flavor profile that will take any sandwich, pasta, or egg dish to the next level.
But my favorite use for garlic scape pesto is in garlic scape pizza.
What are garlic scapes?
Garlic scapes are, as you may have guessed, a part of the garlic plant. In fact, they are the stem and bud of the garlic!
They look like a cross between a green bean and a vine, but taste like - you guessed it - garlic. Only the flavor is more delicate and grassy.
Most garlic scapes can be eaten raw, and I love to dice them finely into salads for a bit of additional flavor. Very strong garlic scapes, however, need to be blanched in boiling water - more on that in the directions!
How to use garlic scape pesto?
Garlic scape pesto is delicious when mixed with pasta for a simple, fast weeknight dinner.
I also love adding it to salad dressings (you just need to add more lemon juice, olive oil and a touch of honey, if desired).
Add garlic scape pesto to scrambled eggs or even roasted potatoes for a twist on the ordinary!
You can also just spread it on toast and top with a good cheese for a delicious sandwich or grilled cheese.
But the best way to eat garlic scapes, in my opinion, is in this simple garlic scape pesto recipe. And when you have pesto, what do you do? Layer it on pizza, of course!
Intrigued yet? Read on!
My Cheat for Pizza Nights
I probably eat more pizza than you'd expect from a low carb food blogger. With a toddler whose favorite food word is pissa and a husband who hates spending time in the kitchen on weeknight meals, we rely on the old tried-and-true Italian dinner staple, pizza, quite often.
So how do I eat all that pizza, keep it healthy (which is crucial for me!), kid-friendly, gluten-free, low-carb and even keto?
My secret: I use a store-bought cauliflower pizza crust! Or when I’m feeling more ambitious, I make this easy cauliflower pizza crust.
Our favorite store-bought cauliflower pizza crust is Molinaro's Cauliflower Crust Pizza Kit from Costco (this is NOT a sponsored post! We just really love it). This cauliflower pizza crust is soft, pillowy, but also crispy around the edges when it cooks. It's big enough to feed a family of three and leave leftovers, which is what we are always after!
Sometimes, we use the included sauce, which is fairly decent. But for spring and summer, when my fridge is ripe with jars of garlic scape pesto, I abstain from using it and opt instead for the strong flavors of pesto - garlic, parmesan and pine nuts - to give my cauliflower pizza the punch it needs.
So you can bet that during garlic scape season (spring and early summer), we will be making garlic scape pizza!
For other pizza-inspired recipes:
Why you need to try this garlic scape pizza
I have served this low carb garlic scape pizza to sceptics, and they all unanimously declared: garlic scape pesto is the bomb on cauliflower crust! Add to that some chunky sundried tomatoes and creamy, tangy goat cheese, and you've got the perfect combo,
I love this easy weeknight garlic scape pizza because it is:
- Easy
- Quick to make - the pesto can be made in advance and takes all of 5 minutes! The rest of the pizza, with its reliance on your fave storebought crust, is a breeze to assemble in another 5.
- Seasonal - it is perfect for spring and summer, and makes use of under-utilized local produce like garlic scapes
- Delicious
- Gluten-free
- Keto
- Low-Carb
- Tangy
- Garlicky
- Fragrant
- Unique!
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this easy garlic scape pesto pizza with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes (hint: the ingredients are mostly in the name!).
For easy garlic scape pesto
- Fresh garlic scapes
- Raw pine nuts, pumpkin or sunflower seeds
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Parmesan cheese
- Lemon juice
- Salt & pepper
For garlic scape pizza
- Your favorite low carb cauliflower pizza crust (we love Molinaro's Cauliflower Crust Pizza Kit)
- Goat Cheese
- Sundried tomatoes
- Additional fresh garlic scapes
- Mozzarella cheese, optional but recommended
Equipment
- Food processor or high powered blender
- Oven
- Pizza stone (optional) or baking sheet
- Pizza cutter (optional) or Chef's knife
Can you make garlic scape pesto without a food processor?
You can make garlic scape pesto in a blender, magic bullet or food processor for best results. Otherwise, you can also use a large mortar and pestle. Finely dice your garlic scapes, and then pound them for a while until they are as finely mashed as you'd like. Continue pounding in the mortar and pestle as you add the rest of the ingredients. This method is very labour intensive, but you'll end up with stronger biceps and triceps as a result!
How to make garlic scape pesto pizza
Make the garlic scape pesto:
- Taste your garlic scapes raw. If they're very strong, cover them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and proceed.
- Chop garlic scapes into 1-inch pieces. Add to food processor. Pulse for a minute.
- Add pine nuts or seeds, and pulse for a minute longer.
- Run the food processor on high speed, and slowly pour in the olive oil.
- Add parmesan cheese, and process until a fine pesto texture is attained. You may want to add more olive oil, if you prefer your pesto more runny than chunky.
- Taste and season with lemon juice, salt and pepper, as desired.
- Pack garlic scape pesto in jars topped with a bit of olive oil, and store in the fridge.
Make garlic scape pizza:
- Preheat oven to 500F. If using a pizza stone, heat it up in the oven as the oven warms up. If using a baking sheet, cover with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Make the pizza: slather cauliflower pizza crust with garlic scape pesto. If using mozzarella cheese for extra cheesiness, spread half of it on the pizza now. Top with diced or whole sundried tomatoes. Sprinkle with generous rounds of goat cheese. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese, if using. Sprinkle more diced garlic scapes, and drizzle with additional garlic scape pesto or olive oil.
- Transfer pizza onto hot pizza stone or baking sheet (take care not to burn yourself!). Bake garlic scape pizza in 500F oven for 12-15 minutes, until cheese is perfectly melted and bubbly and the crust is sufficiently browned in spots. Cut with a pizza cutter or sharp Chef's knife, and serve immediately.
- Leftover pizza will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 3 days.
Storage and freezer instructions
This garlic scape pesto recipe will last in the fridge in a sealed jar for a month. You can also freeze it in ice cubes for easy use year-round.
Leftover pizza will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 3 days.
Scaling the recipe
The garlic scape pesto recipe provided here yields about one 500 mL jar. Feel free to scale the recipe to make more!
Top tips
- Make extra garlic scape pesto and freeze it in ice cubes! After it's fully frozen, transfer them to a Ziplock bag and use year-round in your favorite recipes (pasta, pizza, scrambled eggs, salad dressing and grilled cheese are my favorite vehicles for eating garlic scapes).
- You don't have to use a cauliflower crust for this pizza. Use any pizza crust you like, frozen or fresh, or even just layer this recipe on naan bread or a pita.
- We love adding mozzarella cheese to this pizza to make it extra cheesy.
- You can switch up the toppings - sundried tomatoes and goat cheese - but keep the pesto. One of our other favorite combinations for garlic scape pizza is chicken and artichoke hearts.
- You can also drizzle this garlic scape pesto recipe on a pizza using regular tomato sauce. We love doing to add a punch of garlic flavor to any pizza!
Adaptations
This garlic scape pesto and cauliflower pizza recipe is gluten-free, low carb and keto.
To make a paleo or vegan garlic scape pizza, omit the cheeses. You can use a cashew cheese instead!
You can also play around with the toppings!
Other garlic scape pizza toppings:
- shredded chicken, spinach and artichoke hearts
- chicken sausage and sundried tomatoes
- tomatoes and spinach
- marinated eggplant and cherry tomatoes
- purple onions and tomatoes (goat cheese is amazing here!)
Serving suggestions
We have this garlic scape pizza for dinner many nights in the spring and summer, when fresh garlic scapes are abundant. We like to pair it with the following recipes:
To see the step-by-step easy garlic scape pesto pizza story, check out my web story for a great easy dinner idea!
Pin for Later!
If you make this garlic scape pesto or low carb pizza, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @immigrantstable so we can see what you’ve been cooking.
Tried and loved this recipe? Please leave a 5-star review below! Your reviews mean a lot to me, so if you've got any questions, please let me know in a comment.
Recipe
Easy garlic scape pesto pizza
Equipment
- Pizza stone or baking sheet
- Pizza cutter or Chef's Knife
Ingredients
For easy garlic scape pesto
- 2 cups Fresh garlic scapes
- ¼ cup Raw pine nuts pumpkin or sunflower seeds
- 1 cup Extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 Lemon juice of
- Salt & pepper
For garlic scape pizza
- Your favorite low carb cauliflower pizza crust we love Molinaro's Cauliflower Crust Pizza Kit
- 1 cup Goat Cheese
- ½ cup Sundried tomatoes diced or halves
- 2 garlic scapes diced
- 1 cup Mozzarella cheese optional but recommended
Instructions
Make the garlic scape pesto:
- Taste your garlic scapes raw. If they're very strong, cover them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and proceed.Chop garlic scapes into 1-inch pieces. Add to food processor. Pulse for a minute.Add pine nuts or seeds, and pulse for a minute longer.Run the food processor on high speed, and slowly pour in the olive oil.Add parmesan cheese, and process until a fine pesto texture is attained. You may want to add more olive oil, if you prefer your pesto more runny than chunky.Taste and season with lemon juice, salt and pepper, as desired. Pack garlic scape pesto in jars topped with a bit of olive oil, and store in the fridge.
Make garlic scape pizza:
- Preheat oven to 500F. If using a pizza stone, heat it up in the oven as the oven warms up. If using a baking sheet, cover with parchment paper to prevent sticking.Make the pizza: slather cauliflower pizza crust with garlic scape pesto. If using mozzarella cheese for extra cheesiness, spread half of it on the pizza now. Top with diced or whole sundried tomatoes. Sprinkle with generous rounds of goat cheese. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese, if using. Sprinkle more diced garlic scapes, and drizzle with additional garlic scape pesto or olive oil.Transfer pizza onto hot pizza stone or baking sheet (take care not to burn yourself!). Bake garlic scape pizza in 500F oven for 12-15 minutes, until cheese is perfectly melted and bubbly and the crust is sufficiently browned in spots. Cut with a pizza cutter or sharp Chef's knife, and serve immediately.Leftover pizza will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 3 days.
Leave a Reply