This is a wonderful recipe for making the most of a decent bunch of homegrown carrots. It really shows them off, bringing them front and centre. They might not be quite as beautiful as those you find in the shops, but they taste every bit as good, if not better. You can do something very similar with beetroot, but I love the colour of carrots, particularly once they've been roasted. I'm using ’nduja, a soft, spicy, fatty sausage, to bring heat, character and spades of flavour to the dish, but it's easy enough to leave it out and replace some of that smoky warmth with a little smoked paprika instead.
Serves 2 - 3
Ingredients
- 500–600g carrots, scrubbed and halved lengthways if large
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 garlic cloves, separated but left in their skins
- 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked
- A small handful of fennel fronds (if available)
- 1/2 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds, roughly cracked
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 150g ’nduja sausage
- Warm flatbreads, to serve
For the whipped cottage cheese
- 300g smooth cottage cheese or labneh
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2–3 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan.
Put the carrots and sliced onion in a large roasting tin. Add the olive oil, garlic cloves, rosemary, fennel seeds, cracked coriander seeds and chilli flakes. Season generously with salt and pepper and turn everything together well.
Roast for 35–40 minutes, turning once or twice, until the carrots are tender and deeply coloured around the edges and the onions are beginning to caramelise.
When the carrots are nearly ready, dot the ’nduja over and around them in small pieces. Return the tin to the oven for a further 5–10 minutes, until the ’nduja has softened and released its lovely spicy oils. Give everything a gentle turn to coat the carrots in the warm, fragrant oil.
Meanwhile, spoon the smooth cottage cheese or labneh onto a large serving platter or plate. Trickle over the extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper and gently stir everything together until creamy.
Arrange the hot roasted carrots, onions and ’nduja over the cottage cheese, along with all the lovely juices from the roasting tin.
Scatter over the toasted pumpkin seeds and fennel fronds, if using, and serve with warm flatbreads for scooping everything up.