Garlic Scape, Ricotta and Zatar Pizza

I always look for garlic scapes at the farmer’s market this time of year. Apparently I’m not alone. Lots of bloggers have used them lately, including Danielle at Habeas Brulee (scape tartlets), Derrick at SFist (sauteed with favas and fingerlings), and Chip at Cookthink (with a running scape tally).

What is a garlic scape? It is the shoot of a hardneck garlic plant. The flavor is mildly garlicky. You can slice thin and eat them raw, saute, or steam them, but since the Big Green Egg is my new hammer, the scapes looked like a nail. I doused them with olive oil and grilled them (a bit too much as you can see), then built a pizza with Calabro ricotta, grilled the pizza as well, and when it came off I sprinkled the whole thing with lots of Zaatar.

Grilling on the Egg creates some amazing smoky flavors, but I’ve got a learning curve to climb on heat control still. My first attempts to grill pizza right on the grate, or on a stone on the grate got way too hot and burned the bottom before the top started to cook. Now I’ve got an insulating "plate setter" which slowed the heat down almost too much. I guess my next move is to preheat a baking stone on top of the setter, or experiment with grilling the dough on one side before flipping and adding toppings. Any grilled pizza experts out there, please comment and let me know how to improve!