Baby Carrots, Hazelnut cream, Carrot top pesto

Mike Reid

Ingredients:

  • 2 Bunches Baby Carrots (reserve the green tops for the pesto)
  • 250ml Olive oil (for confit)
  • 100g Hazelnuts, roasted 
  • 50g Brown onion, diced 
  • 75ml Vegetable stock 
  • 50ml Pouring cream 
  • 40g hazelnuts 
  • 40g parmesan (grated)
  • 100ml Olive oil (for Pesto)
  • 50g Hazelnuts, garnish 

Method:

  1. Warm some oil in a pan on medium heat. We don’t want to get it too hot because we aren’t deep frying, we just want to cook them. 
  2. Start sweating down your onions on low with some oil, once they have softened slightly so in with half of your hazelnuts. At this point add in your veggie stock. After about 5 minutes, go in with your cream, let it finish cooking through and then blitz it up. Your hazelnut cream is now ready.
  3. Put your grated parm, the carrot tops, the other half of your hazelnuts & oil into a food processor and blitz together to make your pesto.
  4. Once your carrots are soft and tender, remove them from the oil, drain them off and place on a tray with some paper towel. Season with a pinch of salt once they are removed from the oil.
  5. Time to plate – start with a bed of hazelnut cream, followed by the carrots, dressed with the pesto and for an extra touch, garnish with a spoonful carrot infused olive oil.