Carrot Top Pesto

“Waste not, want not”, this is probably one of my favourite household sayings. Quite literally it means not to waste anything, because it might be needed in the future. It’s an age old saying, used mostly in terms of food as wise use of food resources will help to keep one from poverty.

It’s a saying that is said a lot in our household as I absolutely despise waste, especially food. In all honesty, most foods don’t have much of a chance to go to waste around here but what we can’t eat or have any excess of can quite easily be turned into something delicious, frozen or preserved for future use (if all else fails, it can be thrown into the composter or fed to the birds).

With a garden bursting to the brim more than ever this year, I’ve been doing an awful lot more saving of excess veggies or preserving of fruits than usual (the amount of filled jars in my kitchen beggars belief!). This week however, it was the turn of my carrots. I pulled up the last of my first set of carrots, a colourful mix of purple & chantenay. Whilst the carrots themselves were devoured in some delicious meals, it left me with an awful lot of long, green, leafy carrot tops.

Carrot tops are entirely edible & are full of lovely nutrients, so, ever since I pulled my first carrots in late June, I’ve been saving all of my leafy tops. Storing them in the freezer until I had enough of them to turn into something else.

Generally, it it’s green, leafy & edible…. there’s a 90% chance that it’ll end up in some sort of pesto in my kitchen. My carrot tops are no exception. With a sweet, earth flavour which is somewhere between carrot & parsley, they lend themselves well to this pesto recipe. It’s fresh, vibrant & full of flavour! Plus it’s a really cheap & easy way to use up something which would otherwise be wasted (not to mention an excuse to cook up a big bowl of carbs!).

Try this with my Honeyed Carrot & Goats Cheese Tart with Carrot Top Pesto.