Here in the Piedmont of North Carolina, the farmers’ markets have freshly dug carrots including their greens in both the spring and the fall. This risotto is a go to root to leaf recipe to utilize both the carrot roots and their tops. This recipe follows my Risotto Mother Dish Technique. If you are not familiar with it, I suggest you read that post first, along with my About Risotto post.
My risotto method is not traditional, using brown rice instead of white and using the oven to gently simmer the rice without requiring all the stirring. The time in the oven allows you to prepare the other ingredients before the final combination and plating.
Here I deviate from the mother dish technique slightly with a higher oven temperature. The higher oven temperature does little to affect the cooking of the risotto as the temperature of the water still maxes out at 212 degrees F. But the higher temperature does help to quickly roast the carrots so they are ready for chopping before the risotto has finished cooking.
A few notes on the ingredients specified in the recipe: I specify freshly grated Parmesan cheese. That would be the typical cheese to use, and easy for anyone to source. I actually use a local aged cheese in its place. Calvander from Chapel Hill Creamery to be precise. If you have access to a local aged cheese to substitute, go for it. A fresh chèvre is also a nice option for the finishing cheese. For the pesto, I specify pistachios, but any mild, sweet nut would work. Pine nuts, almonds and pecans can substitute.
Lastly, I make use of a food processor which simplifies making the pesto and chopping the carrots. You can certainly do things the old fashioned way, using a mortar and pestle for the pesto and a chef’s knife for the carrots.
Pictorial walk throughs and full recipe below:
Roasted Carrot Risotto Walk Through
Roasted Carrot Walk Through
Carrot Top Pesto Walk Through
Roasted Carrot Risotto with Carrot Top Pesto
Equipment
- This oven assisted brown risotto method requires a small, enameled cast iron Dutch oven in the 3 to 3.5 quart range.
- Food processor.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 4.5 oz olive oil divided
- 1 medium yellow onion (6-8 oz) chopped
- a few cloves of garlic minced
- 5 cups vegetable or chicken broth divided
- 2-3 oz white wine
- 1.5 cups short grain brown rice
- 1 bunch of carrots, tops attached
- 2.5 oz Parmesan cheese freshly grated, divided
- .5 oz pistachios
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter cut into a dozen cubes or pats
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Arrange two racks in the oven. One should be close to the top of the oven where it will receive refractive heat. The other should be placed in the center of the oven, with enough room to fit the covered Dutch oven. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Prepare the carrots. For the tops: Cut off the carrot tops and remove any leaves that look yellow or brown. Cut the tough stems below the carrot leaves. Rinse and dry the leaves and set aside for later. For the roots. Wash the carrots. Peeling is optional. Cut off the very top and bottom of the roots. Slice one of the carrots into 1/4" thick coins. Cut the other carrots into rough chunks, such that the chunks average about 1/2" thick. Toss the carrots with a tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Spread out evenly on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Sauté the diced onions and in the olive oil and ½ tsp of salt, over medium heat in a medium sized enameled Dutch oven. The correct amount of oil will make the onions uniformly glisten, but not pool in the pan. Sauté until the onions are translucent. A little brown color in the onions is OK for this recipe. Expect 4-5 minutes
- Add the minced garlic to the pot. You do not want the garlic to brown. Stir and sauté for about one minute.
- Add the brown rice to the pot and stir to coat each grain with the aromatic infused oil.
- Add the splash of wine to deglaze any fond that has developed and stir until the wine has mostly been absorbed by the rice.
- Add 4 cups of stock and increase the heat to high and bring the pot to a full boil. As things are heating, taste test for seasoning. It probably needs some some salt at this point, but how much depends on the how salty your selected broth is. At this point the broth should be well-seasoned.
- Once a full boil is reached, cover the pot and transfer to the center rack of the 400 degree oven. Also place the baking sheet with the carrots on the top rack. Set a timer for 40 minutes.
- While the risotto is cooking in the oven, prepare the pesto. Reserve just a couple carrot top fronds and place the rest into the food processor along with 1/2 oz of Parmesan cheese and 1/2 ounce of pistachios into the food processor, along with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a couple cranks of the black pepper grinder. Next pulse these ingredients for about 20-30 seconds. Finally, add 4 ounces of olive oil and pulse for another 20-30 seconds. Remove the pesto from the food processor and save for plating. There is no need to clean the food processor. You will use it again shortly for the roasted carrots.
- After 40 minutes, the carrots should be roasted, but the rice needs another 10 minutes. Remove the carrots from the oven and reset the timer for 10 minutes. Reserve the carrot "coins". They should be browned on the bottom and a little crunchy. Transfer the larger carrot chunks to the food processor and pulse them for 30-40 seconds.
- After 50 minutes, remove risotto from the oven. Remove the cover and stir in the butter. Next, stir in the remaining cup of stock along with the Parmesan cheese and the roasted carrots.
- To plate, start with a scoop or two of the risotto onto the plate. Spoon a generous amount of pesto on top of the risotto. Next, place some roasted carrot "coins" on top and finally sprinkle some reserved carrot top leaves on the very top.
Notes
- The recipe specifies freshly grated Parmesan cheese, which works wonderfully. But, full disclosure, I often use a cheese that is local to me; Calvander from Chapel Hill Creamery. It's more in the Asiago way. If you have a local, aged cheese that you would like to substitute, I highly recommend it!
