Shrimp 'n Grits 'n Scapes

A funny thing happens when you join a CSA. You start trying to cram unusual vegetables into just about anything you can.

"I shoved 3 bunches of kale into lasagna," my neighbor and fellow CSA member proudly told me one day earlier this week.

"Oh, it cooked down so much that you needed to use 3?" I replied.

"No, I had to get rid of three bunches of kale," he said.

This week our item to use was scapes. I could have made pesto again, but when I wanted to make shrimp and grits and didn't have any scallions, I immediately thought of the other long green shoots in my fridge. The scapes needed to be cooked in bacon fat for a bit before I added them to the recipe, (A Paula Deen creation) but since I was going to be using the bacon fat to cook the shrimp, no big deal.

I loved the flavor the scapes gave the dish - grassy and fresh, but more complex than scallions. A major success.

Here's the recipe, adapted from "Paula Deen and Friends" (Simon and Schuster, 2005)

Shrimp and Grits

1 cup stone-ground grits
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup butter
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, left whole if small and roughly chopped if medium or large
6 slices bacon, chopped into tiny pieces
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 cup sliced scapes
1 large garlic clove, minced

Directions

1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the grits and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well with a whisk. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and cook the grits until all the water is absorbed, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and cheese. Keep covered until ready to serve.

2. Rinse the shrimp and pat dry. Fry the bacon in a large skillet until browned and crisp, then drain on a paper towel. Add the scapes to bacon grease in pan and saute until browned and softened. Add shrimp to the skillet and saute over medium heat just until they turn pink, about 3 minutes. Do not overcook! Immediately add the lemon juice, parsley, green onions, and garlic. Remove the skillet from the heat.

3. Pour the grits into a serving bowl. Pour the shrimp mixture over the grits. Garnish with the bacon bits and serve.

Pasta

Pasta is delicious. Pasta is versatile. Pasta is always present in the pantry.

But when it comes to making something new and exciting, pasta almost feels like cheating. It's too easy. No matter what you do to pasta, people usually like it.

But when presented with a bunch of garlic scapes, I made pesto. For pasta.

That's right I cheated.

And it was I good thing I did, because it was a huge hit. The pesto was lighter than traditional basil pesto, and had an almost grassy flavor. I stirred in some grape tomatoes after coating the farfalle with sauce and the results were pretty good.

The next day I stirred some scape pesto into my scrambled eggs and the results were even better.

I guess sometimes cheating isn't really cheating.

Here is the recipe, adapted from Kim O'Donnel's Mighty Appetite blog at The Washington Post:

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds
¾ cup olive oil
¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Method:
Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

For ½ pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta and stir until pasta is well coated.