Guest writer: Pamela Walker, writer and local farm and food activist (www.GrowingGoodThingsToEat.com)
I enjoy roasted carrots with basil pesto, but arugula pesto is just as delicious as basil pesto with carrots. And this is a good thing in the midst of winter, with arugula thriving and basil gone till summer.
Romero Farms is bringing in a new crop of carrots now, carrots that haven’t been stored, and arugula is available from Romero and a number of other farms.
For simplicity in food preparation, I often rely on Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything as a guide. To roast carrots, I use his roasted carrots with cumin but omit the cumin. For arugula pesto, I more or less follow his recipe.
Roasted Carrots
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
1 – 1 ½ pounds baby carrots, green tops trimmed, or full-sized carrots, cut into sticks
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
1. Heat the often to 425 F.
2. Put the carrots on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Roast until the carrots are tender and browning, about 25 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Arugula Pesto
Makes: about 1 cup
Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
2 loosely packed cups fresh arugula, with tough stems removed.
Salt
½ clove garlic, peeled, or more to taste
2 tablespoons pine nuts or shopped walnuts
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, or more as desired
Preparation:
1. Combine the arugula with a pinch of salt, the garlic, the nuts, and about half the oil in a food processor or blender. Process, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container if necessary and adding the rest of the oil gradually. Add more oil if you prefer a thinner mixture.
2. Use within a day.
