carrot leaf pesto!

Everything in my little garden is, for some reason, huge. My gardening sister-in-law says she has never seen zucchini as big as mine, except in youtube videos where people are using bokashi liquid to feed their gardens, so I'm thinking the reason may be the (very wet & wormy) compost from our compost bin that we mixed in with some soil from our meadow & some organic gardening compost bought at the local hardware store? Anyway, being a beginner gardener I'm pretty impressed myself.

What is also huge, is my pumpkin plants, behind which my tall preteen daughter is hiding in the picture above. The pumpkin is totally trying to eat all my carrots, and I keep trying to direct it elsewhere, but I also made an attempt to save at least some of the poor little orange fellas. That yielded some fairly nutritious results, because in addition to baby carrots (we're big fans!) I used the leafs for some pesto. Two kinds, actually. And by popular demand, I'm here to make a record of the recipe for all posterity. 

Note! Only use organic / homegrown carrots for this one. The pesticide build-up is highest in the leafy part of carrots, so make sure yours haven't been sprayed.

Start by washing the leaves well. Pat dry, or, if not impatient, leave to dry and take the time to enjoy the chocolate chip cookies your husband baked yesterday. (Just a suggestion! ;) Once dry / drier, tear the leaves off the stems. Chuck your stems in the compost bin, so they'll feed your carrots again next year!

CARROT LEAF PESTO

You will need:

about 300 ml / 1.5 cups of carrot leaves

about 100 ml / 1/2 cup other herbs (basil if being traditional, but coriander is a nice zingy change!)

100 ml / 6-7tbsp sunflower seeds, lightly toasted

1 tsp garlic powder

the juice of half a lemon (lime works too!)

about 200 ml / 7/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

about 100 ml / 7 tbsp grated parmesan

salt & pepper to taste

Here's how:

1. In a blender, blend together the carrot leaves, your choice of herbs, sunflower seeds, lemon juice, garlic powder, and about half of the olive oil.

2. Add grated parmesan and a little more of the oil, and blend again.

3. Once the texture is to your liking, pour in a jar / serving dish, and add salt & pepper + some more oil if needed.

This goes well with pasta, in a pizza, or whatever you like to use your pesto for. You can also freeze it for later use if you happen to have lots of carrot leaves and want to use them all. I usually freeze mine in an ice cube mold and then pop into a freezer bag or a jar once they're frozen. Pasta with carrot leaf pesto is the real deal, let me tell ya!

organic buckwheat pasta with carrot leaf pesto! even my kid ate it!