Bright, sweet & nutritious… carrots are a versatile little root. From savoury to sweet, soups to cake, there isn’t much the carrot can’t do. Even their leafy green tops are entirely edible!
This week, I’ve pulled the very last of my first set of carrots from the garden. Not only am I rewarded with a satisfying feeling of another successful homegrown food (smug AF) but also by the beautiful array of colours beneath that fresh layer of soil.
A beautiful bundle of bright orange & deep purple tones, far too pretty to be resigned to a lifeless meal. Armed with a roll of ready-to-use puff pastry, I’d been dreaming up (quite literally) an attractive, glazed, carrot tart for weeks now, patiently waiting for my little carrots to flourish.
Finally finding myself with plenty of them, I transformed my humble little carrots into this sticky, buttery, sweet pastry tart. Honey roasted carrots are by far the superior method to cook them (fact) roasting carrots helps to intensify their flavour & a little dash of honey accentuates their natural sweetness.
I’ve paired my sweet, glazed carrots with the unapologetically intense, earthy flavour of goats cheese, both working together to bring a harmonious, well rounded flavour. All thrown on top of some buttery, flaky, ready-to-use pastry & finished with an added pop of colour from a punchy carrot top pesto. A light & vibrant tart that uses every single part of the versatile carrot to perfection, plus it’s far too easy to make for something that looks this good!
HONEYED CARROT & GOATS CHEESE TART WITH CARROT TOP PESTO
Ingredients:
- 330g carrots (a mix of purple & chantenay works well)
- 2 tbsp honey
- One roll of ready-rolled puff pastry (375g)
- Good pinch of salt
- 85g goats cheese
- 1 egg, beaten
- A few good dollops of carrot top pesto
Method:
- Begin by rolling out the ready to use puff pastry
- Use a knife to carefully score a 1 inch edge all the way around the sheet of pastry (creating a smaller rectangle inside the pastry sheet)
- Next, use a sharp knife or a mandoline to thinly slice the carrots before placing into a bowl with the honey & salt
- Toss the carrots through the honey until they have all been coated
- Tip the carrots out onto the centre of the pastry sheet & spread them out within the inner scored rectangle, leaving the 1 inch edge clear
- Slice the goats cheese & arrange the slices on top of the carrots
- Brush the 1 inch edge of pastry with the beaten egg
- Bake the tart in the oven at 200 for 25 minutes, until the carrots are tender & the pastry is golden
- Remove from the oven & add a few spoonfulls of the carrot top pesto on top before serving
