The day I found out I could eat the tops of carrots was a bit of an exciting one.
“You can eat them!” I cried.
“Excellent.” He said, in a less than thinking it really was excellent, voice.
I pushed that lack of enthusiasm to the side as I was carrying more than enough excitability for this one to carry us both. Carrot tops eh? Who knew, actually it turns out lots of people knew, and I was just a bit slow on the uptake. So that’s why they quite often sell bunches of carrots with the tops still on… I just thought they were trying to keep the carrots looking au natural.
What would I make with them? How would they taste? And would I get it by the rest of the family?
Carrot Top Pesto
Bunch of carrot tops, washed and finally chopped.
A couple of cloves of garlic
Juice of a lemon
Enough olive oil to get a good pesto like consistency.
Pop it all into a hand held mixer, and pulse.
With Carrot Top Pesto made, what was I going to eat with it? I had some potatoes that were whispering to be popped into the oven with some rosemary, and that looked like it could be it. Too simple? Surprisingly no. Mr Chocolate drizzled his with some Pukara balsamic vinegar, (which gave it an extra zing) and not a murmur of objection was to be heard about the ‘different’ pesto.
The following day I had more of the potatoes and pesto together, leaving out the snow pea shoots, (which just quietly I feel are a bit of a chore to eat.) Delicious, seriously delicious. I kept taking another bite just to makes sure. Armed with an empty bowl and green speckled lips, I decided that yes, carrot top pesto was indeed a winner.
A local, frugal, seasonal winner.
How about you? Have you made any food discoveries lately? Ever made carrot top pesto? Do you think snow pea shoots are a bit of chore to eat as well?
Where did my food come from?
Carrots- Rita’s Farm, Kemps Creek 50km
Sebago Potato- Naturally Grown, Naturally Better, Crookwell 240km
Snow Pea Shoots- Lin’s Organics, Londonderry 60km
Rosemary- My courtyard
Lemon- My parents in law’s backyard
Interested in taking the challenge?
Just how local is local? Well this depends entirely on you. Only you know how you and your family eat. Raise the bar just a little from what you already do. If making sure the majority of your meal includes solely food produced in your country, than make that your challenge. If you want to make it a little trickier, go for produced in the same state…trickier still within 160km.
My aim is to really know where my food is coming from for at least one meal a month, (where I will be posting here in the last week of the month).
cityhippyfarmgirl 
Very interested/excited to hear you can eat carrot tops. I make pesto from all sorts of weeds but have never thought of carrot tops. I’ve left some carrots going to seed in the garden purely for their decorative flowers, now I’m going to view the woodier specimens in a different light!
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Let me know how you go Andrea. At first I was a little unsure but I think I had preconceived taste ideas. Dumped them aside and hey, that works.
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Great idea! I wish I’d thought of this since it seems so simple and delicious!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
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and oh so very frugal!
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Wow! I don’t know why, but I always thought they were poisonous, like rhubarb leaves. I’ll be able to try out some carroty pesto next time I pull some up from my vege patch. Excellent.
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It seems the old poisonous idea is a long held one that isn’t true. My tip is the fresher the better!
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Cool! Never even thought about eating carrot tops! Always gave them to the goats. Poor goaties will miss out now! Love the eating local challenge…it’s not always easy for us to source ingredients from nearby but we always try to eat as much as possible food that is produced on our own land. We have the meat sorted so now we just need the vegies.
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It can be really hard eating locally. I think a fair proportion of our every day food is sourced locally but doing it 100%, yep, it’s hard!
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Gosh really??? I’m a little ‘cited too now!
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I know 🙂 Keep it all super fresh, and with other crackin’ ingredients and you’ll be set.
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That’s so good to know. I’ve always just cut them off and binned them yet always felt slightly guilty for doing so. I’m glad to know they’re edible. I will try your carrot-top-pesto the very next time I buy a bunch of carrots xx
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Get farmers markets ones CL, you know you’ll be getting the very best tops then 🙂
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Feeling rather embarrassed that I was quite so excited when I read this! Like Andrea, I make pesto from weeds but didn’t know you could eat carrot tops. Guess what we’re eating for supper tomorrow! Far more exciting than pea shoots.
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Weeds and carrot tops, it’s a good combo for pesto isn’t it. Basil and pinenuts? pfft!
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Great idea! Our rabbit always gets the carrot tops, so they don’t go to waste. May have to try this some time. We are firm believers that basil pesto at least makes almost anything taste good!
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I think lemon and awesome local garlic are the clinchers to it, without them, well…it might be a little rabbit foody.
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Just about to go on a road trip down to Hobart to buy myself some freshly harvested Chinese artichokes to try to grow here on Serendipity Farm. Much like Jerusalem artichokes they are a perennial tuber with lots of great uses and as a bonus, they grow very easily and have lovely purple flowers. WIN 🙂 Wish I had seen this prior to composting all of my carrot tops a while ago…I doubt that they would taste the same if I went hunting in the compost now 😉
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Probably not quite as tender from the compost I would say, but there is always next time.
Im interested in hearing more about your Chinese artichokes- grow easily and produce a beautiful purple flower? That is a win!
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And they taste a bit like water chestnuts. They also go by the name of Crosne and look a bit like vegetable wichetty grubs ;).
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Yay, me too – pea shoots are a total chore to deal with at the end of a knife and fork and in the mouth – I could make a banner, Brydie! ‘Down With Pea Shoots’. I will try carrot top pesto – I’m always seduced by a bunch of feathery baby carrots. Kale makes good pesto too with some sunflower seeds and almonds – I’m a big fan of pesto.
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Oh please do make that banner. I feel like a horse eating them I really do. I get them occasionally in the veggie box and always shoulder slump just a little when I see them.
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Mmmm…this post would explain why the guinea pigs go absolutely crazy over the tops of the carrots when I pick them…saving the bottom orange part for us. It would seem the guinea pigs knew something I didn’t know.My mother in law has always cooked dandelions as a leafy green and made sure I ate them right through my pregnancies…so that was a bit of a weird food discovery at the time.
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Kim I so would like to find out more on edible weeds. I’ve thought about it for far too long and just need to do it….saying that your countryside weeds are a little more desirable than Sydney city ones I must admit.
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Nothing wrong with frugal cooking. Good idea!
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Ultra frugal with this one Michelle.
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I remember a social network friend of mine called Carl Legge who has brought a book out recently called The Permaculture Kitchen making carrot top pesto with a carrot top mountain he had and I tried it enthusiastically but it was just a bit coarse and indigestible for my tastes, maybe it has to be done with young carrot tops? I do love pea shoots though 🙂
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Joanna, I think if you can get through pea shoots you can get through anything.
I do also think younger carrot tops are a must as otherwise they will be too coarse to get through. Also the lemon and super fresh garlic was a must for it, then added to potatoes, it really did work. Give it another crack with some younger carrots…and if in doubt, whack it in your bread I say 🙂 Is there anything sourdough won’t accommodate?
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Love it!! Let’s “spread” the carrot top pesto. 🙂
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I love that not only are you eating locally but you’re not creating waste!
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Wow! I did not know you can eat carrot tops. Thanks for the heads up Brydie. xxoo
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