Carrot Top Pesto

Serves : 4 people

Preparation : 20 minutes

Wait : 1 day

Ingredients

1 boot of carrots with tops You'll only need the tops; save the carrots for other dishes.
1.8 oz of pine nuts or blanched almonds
1.8 oz of Parmesan
1/2 lemon for the juice and zest
1 pod of garlic
3.4 fl oz of olive oil
pepper
quelques leaves of basil optional

Instructions

Rinse the greens

Remove the stems and roughly chop the greens. Place them in the bowl of a food processor along with the basil leaves.

Squeeze the lemon, grate the zest, coarsely grate the Parmesan, and place everything in the blender. Add the pine nuts and season with pepper.

Peel and remove the germ from the garlic clove. Chop it coarsely. Add it to the blender bowl.

Start blending, gradually adding the olive oil, until the pesto reaches the desired consistency. If necessary, scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure the mixture is smooth and well combined.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape it clean with a spatula so you don't waste any of this precious mixture. Here I used a wooden spatula, but it’s much less practical!

The Chef’s Tip

My advice is not to eat it right away, but to wait until the next day so that it really releases all its flavors and loses that slight bitterness it has at first. Cover the pesto with a thin layer of oil and store it in an airtight container.

Notes

This carrot top pesto will keep in the fridge for one to two weeks, especially if you make sure to keep a thin layer of oil on top.

If you want to keep it longer, you can freeze it by packing it into the compartments of an ice cube tray. This way, you’ll end up with little cubes of pesto, and you’ll only use what you need! It’s a very handy technique that I also use for my leftover crème fraîche!