Roasted Carrots With Carrot Top Pesto

This dish, made with orange and rainbow carrots, is anything but ordinary. This recipe is from my food photography class at George Brown College . THESE ARE CARROTS! Wow!!! We are in Flavortown!

Despite loving Peking Duck for many years, I now find myself raving about roast duck with roasted carrots and green “carrot top”pesto. The pear tart for dessert was phenomenal too and left a lasting impression. The whole meal was absolutely divine, and we still reminisce about it. Best meal in 20 years! It was that good. I’ll share the recipes for the roast duck and pear tart in a future post. Carrots are good for you. 🥕 Give this one a try. YUM!!!

Recipe

Roasted Carrots Recipe

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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INGREDIENTS

▢ 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (good quality)
▢ 1 pound carrots. 
▢ 3-5 cloves of garlic
▢ 1 tsp fresh lemon zest (about 1/2 of a lemon)+ 2 tsp. lemon juice
▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt (Maldon sea salt, Himalayan salt is good)</em>

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Use a large iron skillet to heat the oil and add the scrubbed carrots sliced in half; with the tops cut off. Brown carrots then add chopped garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add salt and place in the oven to roast. Carrots are done when they stay firm when lifted. average oven time is about 20 minutes.
Plate the carrots and drizzle or place the pesto on the side.

CARROT TOP PESTO (5 MINUTES TO MAKE)

INGREDIENTS

▢ 1/2 cup carrot top greens
▢ 1 cup chopped cilantro ( try to leave out the stems ~soapy taste~ it works?)
▢ 2 cloves garlic
▢ 1 tbsp dried oregano
▢ 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds ~ or walnuts or pine nuts
▢ 1 teaspoon lemon zest
▢ 3/4 cups extra virgin olive oil)
▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt</em>

INSTRUCTIONS
Blend all ingredients in the food processor, except oil and salt. Slowly add the olive oil. Add salt to taste.

CARROT TOP PESTO is incredibly easy to whip up, and it imparts so much delightful flavor to whatever dish it accompanies. I usually rely on a food processor for this, but if you prefer a more hands-on approach, you can definitely chop the leaves and other ingredients manually (takes a little more time). For the base, I opt for a robust, high-quality extra virgin olive oil. This smooth and rich EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) effectively counteracts any bitterness from the greens and balances out the tanginess from the lemon zest. The toasted pumpkin seeds play a crucial role in this pesto, ~substitute -> toasted almonds, pecans, walnuts or toasted pine nuts. (Nuts are so good for your heart health.)

CARROT TOP PESTO can be added to steak, chicken, pasta and other veggies. Its trending along with the nutritional path that masses of people are embracing today. Good living with good food ..that tastes good too!

21 thoughts on “Roasted Carrots With Carrot Top Pesto”

  1. gabychops says:
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    gabychops's avatar

    Thank you, Eva, for the wonderful dish! As I am a vegetarian, it is perfect

    for me! I love the green pesto! Thank you!

    Joanna                                   

    Liked by 1 person

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