Try and find green garlic at your local Farmer’s Market—it is well worth the hunt! Similar in appearance to scallions, green garlic is an early spring culinary wonder that is actually just young garlic that has not developed its bulb yet. Also known as ‘spring garlic’, these scallion-like bunches have an intense garlic smell and taste which makes it nice to pair with milder flavors.
When you search for green garlic recipes, the bulk of them that come up involve pasta. Whether thinly sliced and sautéed with olive oil and cheese, or whirled in a food processor like I did to make a simple pesto, I think green garlic would also be very nice sliced and put in an omelette or quiche, maybe even on a simple pizza as well. I decided to make a green garlic-walnut pesto and toss it with one of my favorite pasta shapes, bucatini. Along with crispy cubes of pancetta, halved cherry tomatoes, lemon zest and a sprinkling of Pecorino cheese, this pasta is a wonderful way to showcase the miracle of early spring vegetables and herbs such as green garlic!
Green garlic
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Bucatini with Green Garlic- Walnut Pesto
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. bucatini pasta
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 bunch of basil
- 1 bunch of green garlic, root ends and top ends trimmed–cut into 1-inch pieces
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup grated Pecorino cheese, plus more for serving
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
- pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 oz. cubed pancetta, cooked until crisped and drained on a paper towel
Directions:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the bucatini according to package directions, to al dente. Drain, but save 1 cup of pasta water.
- To make the pesto, place the basil leaves, green garlic pieces, walnuts, red pepper flakes, juice of the lemon, ¼ cup of cheese and ¼ cup of oil in a food processor. Whirl until chopped and smooth—add more olive oil if need to be, or a drizzle of water, until a nice consistency is achieved. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss the cooked pasta with the pesto, drizzling it with the warm pasta water until the pasta becomes coated with the pesto. Serve each bowl of pasta with lemon zest, cherry tomatoes, cooked pancetta and more Pecorino cheese to taste.
Tagged: bucatini, cherry tomatoes, garlic, green garlic, green garlic-walnut pesto, lemon zest, olive oil, pancetta, pasta, pecorino cheese, pesto, scallions, walnut pesto, walnuts
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