Introduction to Green Garlic

Week 6's take included four heads of lettuce, Swiss chard, zucchini and summer squash, fennel, broccoli, and a strange, four-foot vegetable known as green garlic. In advance of getting the green garlic, I scoured the web for green garlic recipes and found a few. Recipes had instructions such as “snap off and chop the scape” and “peel the brown outer layer.” This left me confused until I watched a video about what green garlic looks like and what the different parts are called. At the bottom of the plant is a familiar bulb of garlic that has not been “cured.” Curing dries out the garlic bulb making it easy to store for longer periods of time. The green stem in the middle of the plant with the slight bulge at the top contains a flower and is called a “scape.” This is edible and has a mild garlic flavor.

I was eager to cook with this familiar, yet strange vegetable and found Penne with Roasted Garlic, Pancetta and Arugula. This dish was perfect because it not only used the garlic from this week’s selection, but also used some of the arugula that I still had from Week 5. And I love combining two or more of my weekly vegetables in a single recipe.

Roasting Garlic

Because roasting garlic can take anywhere from forty minutes to more than an hour, I roasted it the day before. The recipe called for 6 bulbs, and I only had 4 so I supplemented with regular garlic. In the picture, the green garlic bulbs are the smaller, pinker ones and the regular garlic is larger with papery skin. To roast garlic, simply cut off the tops such that the cloves are exposed, drizzle with olive oil (I used extra virgin), cover with foil and place in the oven for at least 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Roasted garlic can be enjoyed on its own as a spread. Once roasted, squeeze the cloves out (they should be soft and creamy) and spread onto bread for a delicious appetizer.

Penne With Roasted Garlic, Pancetta and Arugula

Some thoughts on the eventual dish I created: Overall, it was very good--and I would make it again--but it could use some modification. First, I never cooked with pancetta before and didn’t remember what it tasted like (but I’m sure I’ve had it in a restaurant before). The pancetta was on the salty side but came out as crispy as bacon, even though at first, it appeared fattier. In the future, I would likely use bacon instead. Second, when adding the garlic, my intuition told me that the 6 bulbs I had roasted was too much and I added only half the garlic stated in the recipe. That proved to be plenty and the garlic gave the dish a surprisingly cheesy, creamy texture. The wilted arugula added a delicious spiciness, rounding out the dish. Yum!