The first bunched new carrots of the season have arrived! These are my daughter’s favourite, as they look so classically carrot-like. The orange root, the big fluffy green leaves of the carrot top, the way you feel like Bugs Bunny when you eat one raw!
You’ll notice your carrots tops look quite similar to parsley. They are in the same botanical family as parsley and the leaves can be used in the same way. While they are much tougher than parsley, they have a similar look, smell and flavour.
Often we’re taught how to cook in a very profligate way – for instance, snapping asparagus stems in half and throwing away the thicker piece, stripping the leaves off cavolo nero or kale and throwing away the stems, discarding broccoli stalks, and cutting the tops off carrots and thinking nothing more of them. But once you try them, you realise that almost every part of the vegetable is usually perfectly edible. This is the “root to shoot” philosophy – trying to cook with the whole of the plant, not just the obvious bits we’re used to.
Don’t forget to return your re-usable Vegbox bags and packaging. When you want to take a holiday from Vegbox, please let us know at least a week in advance.
Tom Steele
What’s in the bag this week?
Small bag:
Setanta potatoes – Skea Organics, Angus
Bunched carrots – Foskett’s, Sussex
Mushrooms – Capel Mushrooms, Suffolk
Cavolo nero – Wild Country Organics, Cambridgeshire
Standard bag:
Setanta potatoes – Skea Organics, Angus
Asparagus – Bedlam Farms, Cambridgeshire
Green garlic bulb – Ripple Farm, Kent
Bunched carrots – Foskett’s, Sussex
Family bag:
Setanta potatoes – Skea Organics, Angus
Bunched carrots – Foskett’s, Sussex
Mushrooms – Capel Mushrooms, Suffolk
Cavolo nero – Wild Country Organics, Cambridgeshire
Baby artichokes – Bedlam Farms, Cambridgeshire
Mega bag:
Setanta potatoes – Skea Organics, Angus
Bunched carrots – Foskett’s, Sussex
Green garlic bulb – Ripple Farm, Kent
Asparagus – Bedlam Farms, Cambridgeshire
Vine tomatoes – Langridge Organics, Gloucestershire
Baby artichokes – Bedlam Farms, Cambridgeshire
Fruit supplement:
Strawberries – Hugh Lowe Farms, Kent
Wash all veg and fruit before eating. Store green garlic, mushrooms, cavolo nero, asparagus, artichokes and carrots in the fridge. Protect potatoes from light to avoid sprouting.
Recipe: roasted carrots with carrot top pesto
You could also puree the roasted carrots with stock into a soup and have the carrot top pesto swirled in it as a nice green garnish.
bunch of carrots 5 tbsp olive oil
½ garlic clove 1 tbsp pine nuts
25g grated parmesan 10 basil leaves
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Trim the tops from the carrots, leaving a little bit of stem attached.
- Toss the carrots, 1 tbsp olive oil, and salt and pepper on a baking tray.
- Roast the carrots, tossing occasionally, for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown and tender.
- Meanwhile for the pesto, use a handful of carrot tops. You want to use the leafiest parts, avoid the tough stems.
- Blend the garlic, pine nuts, basil leaves, parmesan, carrot top leaves and 4 tbsp olive oil to a coarse paste. A small spice grinder might be better for this job than a big food processor. The carrot top leaves can be quite tough to process.
- Season the pesto to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve the carrots with pesto drizzled on them.
Recipe: cavolo nero pasta with chilli & anchovy
Serves 2.
250g penne pasta or similar 4 tbsp olive oil
1 red chilli, finely sliced ¼ green garlic bulb, finely chopped
2 anchovies, finely chopped 200g cavolo nero, shredded
juice ½ lemon 50g parmesan, half grated, half shaved
- Heat half the oil in a pan, then gently sautee the chilli, green garlic and anchovies for a few minutes.
- Add the shredded cavolo nero stems and leaves, then gently sautee for 20 minutes until tender, adding a little water if needed.
- Boil the pasta and drain, reserving a few tbsp water, then toss the pasta and water through the kale, adding the rest of the olive oil, lemon juice and grated Parmesan.
- Serve scattered with the Parmesan shavings.
Recipe: fried potato cakes
Serves 4.
900g potato 30g carrot top leaves, finely chopped
2 eggs, beaten 2 tbsp cornflour
- Peel the potatoes, grate them into a colander.
- Make sure you’ve got clean hands and squeeze the grated potato, to get out as much of the water as you can.
- Put the potatoes into a large bowl.
- Add the eggs, carrot top leaves, and cornflour. Mix together well with your hands.
- Get a large frying pan and add a good amount of olive oil.
- Take a golf ball sized piece of the mixture, squeeze into a ball, place on the hot pan, and flatten using a fish slice or spatula.
- Cook until golden brown and crispy, about 4 minutes, then flip over and brown the other side.
- Keep them on layers of kitchen roll or tea towel to drain off some of the oil before serving.
