Carrot top pesto

At a farmers’ market recently, I was so saddened to see person after person having their carrot tops removed and discarded. It inspired me to start digging around for ways to use them. Pesto is just one way and I can guarantee you will never throw those tops away again. Although the recipe is specific measurement-wise, the idea is to make use of what you have, so don’t stress if you don’t have the exact weight I’ve given in carrot tops. Add extra herbs, adjust the oil quantities, and play around until you get the consistency you like.

Credit: The Art of The Natural Home

• makes

  100 g

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp pine nuts or almonds
• 100–150 g carrot tops, washed and dried, chopped roughly (don’t worry too much about the weight here, you can add extra ingredients)
• small handful of any herbs (optional)
• 1–2 garlic cloves, minced
• juice of 1 lemon (or orange) – you can add some zest, too, if you like
• 3 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
• olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Toast the nuts in a dry pan until they turn golden. Watch carefully and move them around the pan whilst they are cooking as they can easily burn.

Put the carrot tops and herbs (if using) in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Add the garlic and lemon juice (and zest) and blitz again for a few seconds. Now add the Parmesan and enough oil to give the consistency you like for your pesto. I drizzle the oil in slowly so I can control the texture. Season to taste and blitz again for a few seconds. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Add more oil if too dry.

Recipe and photograph from The Art of the Natural Home by Rebecca Sullivan (Kyle Books, $39.99). Find more recipes from the book here. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.