White carrots
White carrots are deliciously sweet with a smooth flavour, but also slightly lacking the earthiness of regular carrots. Originally carrots were purple or white, before being cross-bred to produce the hardy orange variety ubiquitous today. Like any type of carrot, they are delicious tossed with some oil, and seasoned with salt and sugar, then roast in a very hot oven (190C) until tender. Feel free to add some honey and cumin or coriander seeds towards the end. One other option is to toss them in this pesto after cooking. Smaller carrot tops have a sweet carrot flavour, but the bigger ones become increasingly grassy in flavour: somewhat closer to lovage. They can be fibrous, but the process of blending them resolves that issue. The oil and cheese also takes the edge off the “green” flavour. Feel free to use a virgin rapeseed oil and Mrs. Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese for a more anglicised end result. Simultaneously frugal and delicious. Enjoy!
Carrot-top pesto
60g Carrot tops
60g Baby spinach
20g Toasted pine nuts
1/2 Large clove of garlic
150g Olive oil
50g Grated pecorino or parmesan
Pinch Salt
Pinch Sugar
- Blend everything together for 10 secs until a coarse puree is achieved, then use much like a regular pesto.
Ollie