I used to think carrot tops were just waste for the compost bin. But thankfully I’ve been enlightened and know that they are edible and delicious. Now you know and can save the carrot tops too. Carrot top greens have a parsley taste to them and they are perfect in a pesto! Making pesto out of the carrot tops is my go to recipe for making delicious pesto. And oh my is it delicious! Give it a try!
This will make about 1 cup of pesto.
Nut: You don’t have to use cashews. Pine nuts are the traditional nut in a pesto recipe but they are very expensive. Almonds, pistachios, and walnuts are good affordable options. For nut-free, you can try sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
Cheese: any hard cheese can be a good alternative. Romano and asiago are good options.
Ingredients:
Pesto:
- 2 bunches of carrot tops (about 2 cups)
- ½ cup roasted unsalted cashews nuts
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus more to help blend.
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon or to taste freshly ground black pepper
Pasta:
- 1 package pasta (1 lb)
Equipment:
Glass container or Wide-mouth mason jar
Steps:
Pesto:
- Microwave the garlic cloves for 2 minutes to remove the sharpness of raw garlic. Carefully peel garlic, cloves will be hot. You can skip this step if you don’t mind the raw garlic taste.
- Separate the carrot top stems from the leaves. Discard the stems. The stems are too tough for the pesto.
- Add the carrot top leaves and the rest of the pesto ingredients together into a glass jar for an immersion blender or use a food processor.
- Blend all the ingredients until smooth. If pesto is difficult to blend, try adding an extra tablespoon of EVOO.
Pasta:
- Bring a pot of salted water to boil.
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain pasta and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
- Combine the cup of pasta water with the pesto and fold into pasta.
- Serve with extra grated parmesan on top.
Carrot Top Pesto and Pasta
Equipment
- 1 immersion blender
- 1 glass container or wide-mouth mason jar
Ingredients
Pesto
- 2 bunches carrot top
- 1/2 cup roasted unsalted cashews
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper or to taste
Pasta
- 1 lb pasta
Instructions
Pesto
- Microwave the garlic cloves for 2 minutes to remove the sharpness of raw garlic. Carefully peel garlic, cloves will be hot. You can skip this step if you don’t mind the raw garlic taste.
- Separate the carrot top stems from the leaves. Discard the stems. The stems are too tough for the pesto.
- Add the carrot top leaves and the rest of the pesto ingredients together into a glass jar for an immersion blender or use a food processor.
- Blend all the ingredients until smooth. If pesto is difficult to blend, try adding an extra tablespoon of EVOO.
Pasta
- Bring a pot of salted water to boil.
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain pasta and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
- Combine the cup of pasta water with the pesto and fold into pasta.
- Serve with extra grated parmesan on top.
