Grilling does not always have to mean brisket, ribs, or a long afternoon tending the smoker.
Sometimes a quick trip to the garden, a few minutes over the fire, and a cold bottle of wine are all you need for a great summer meal.
For the latest installment of my Garden to Plate series, I harvested garlic scapes and zucchini from our garden and used them to make grilled shrimp with garlic scape pesto “zoodles.” I paired the dish with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
Putting Garden Ingredients on the Grill
One of the best things about having a garden is that it can influence what goes on the grill.
Instead of deciding on a recipe and then shopping for every ingredient, you can start with what is ready to harvest and build a meal around it.
In this case, we had fresh garlic scapes and zucchini.
The zucchini was spiralized into noodles, while the garlic scapes became the base of a fresh pesto. Grilled shrimp added smoke, texture, and a little char to the dish without making it feel heavy.
It was a quick, fresh meal that still delivered the flavor you expect from outdoor cooking.
Why Garlic Scapes Make Great Pesto
Garlic scapes are the green shoots produced by hardneck garlic plants. Their flavor is garlicky but generally milder and more vegetal than mature garlic cloves.
That makes them especially useful in pesto.
Traditional basil pesto can be bold and aromatic, but garlic scape pesto has a deeper savory quality that works well with grilled food. It brings enough intensity to stand up to the smoky shrimp while still tasting bright and fresh.
Pesto is also easy to customize. Depending on the recipe, you can adjust the amount of cheese, nuts, olive oil, and citrus to create a sauce that is thicker, lighter, sharper, or creamier.
Grilling the Shrimp
Shrimp are ideal for a fast summer cook because they take only a few minutes over high heat.
A hot grill helps create a little char on the exterior while keeping the inside tender. The biggest mistake is leaving them on too long. Once the shrimp are opaque and beginning to curl, they are usually ready.
The light smokiness from the grill gave this dish enough barbecue character to make it at home on the Wine With BBQ blog, while the pesto and zoodles kept everything fresh and seasonal.
Pairing Grilled Shrimp with Sauvignon Blanc
I paired the dish with a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc typically offers high acidity, citrus, tropical fruit, and green herbal flavors. Those characteristics made it a strong partner for the entire dish.
The acidity cut through the olive oil and richness of the pesto. Citrus flavors complemented the shrimp, while the wine’s herbaceous notes connected with the garlic scapes and zucchini.
The pairing also demonstrates why Sauvignon Blanc can be such a reliable wine for grilled seafood. It has enough personality to stand up to smoke and seasoning, but it remains refreshing rather than heavy.
Other Wines to Try
Sauvignon Blanc was my first choice, but several other wines could work well with grilled shrimp and garlic scape pesto:
- Albariño for citrus, minerality, and seafood-friendly acidity
- Vermentino for herbal notes and a slightly savory finish
- Grüner Veltliner for freshness, pepper, and green flavors
- Dry Riesling for acidity with a little additional fruit
- Unoaked Chardonnay for a rounder but still refreshing pairing
I would avoid heavily oaked white wines because strong vanilla and toast flavors could overpower the shrimp and clash with the pesto.
A Different Side of Outdoor Cooking
Barbecue and grilling are often associated with large cuts of meat, long cooking times, and bold sauces. Those meals have their place, but outdoor cooking can also be quick, fresh, and vegetable-forward.
This meal started with two ingredients from our garden, added a few minutes of grilling, and finished with a crisp glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
That is what Garden to Plate is all about: using what is growing, cooking it simply, and finding the wine that helps bring everything together.
The full recipe for the grilled shrimp with garlic scape pesto zoodles is included below.
Garlic Scape Pesto
Ingredients
10 (154 grams) Garlic Scapes size of scapes vary, use weight for accurate measurement
1/3 cup (44 grams) Pine Nuts *see notes for substitutes
1/3 cup (38 grams) Parmesan Asiago or Parmesan dice or shredded **see note
1/2 Lemon juiced
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
Pinch of ground pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Trim the garlic scapes by cutting just below the bulb and also if the end of the stem seems woody, trim that too (like asparagus). Discard the bulb and end of stem, then set the remaining scape aside (the curly part).
In a food processor, add the scapes, twirling them around the center so that they all fit. Add the pine nuts, cheese, juice of the lemon and salt and pepper. Process by pulsing until the mixture begins to break down. Scrape the bowl down.
With the processor running, slowly add all the olive oil. Continue to process until all the ingredients are incorporated and broken down, about one minute.
Store in a covered container or lidded jar in the fridge and enjoy within a week. Also, you can freeze the pesto in a jar or in an ice-cube tray. Once frozen, in the ice-cube tray, remove and place in a zip top bag in the freezer.
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