Carrot Top Pesto

The carrots out of my garden are coming of age. They are beautiful and have the brightest green tops. I often feel slightly wasteful throwing the tops aside. They are very nutritious, and I keep thinking that there has to be something great that those carrot tops can aspire to.  Not one to leave random thoughts about carrots tops alone, I decided to make a pesto. The flavor of the leaves are earthy, with a slight parsley flavor. It's not a knock your socks off flavor, like fresh basil would lend to pesto, so I decided to make the pesto a little lighter on the green side, and with a bit more of everything else.




Carrot Top Pesto


1/2 cup toasted pecans


1/2 cup Parmesan cheese ( I actually didn't have Parmesan on hand, so I used this really awesome cheese from Carr Valley called Caso Bolo Manage. It's a blend of sheep, goat, and cow's milk and it has a really fabulous flavor!)


1 large clove of garlic


1 large bunch of carrot tops, leaves only, discard the stems


1/2 cup olive oil


salt and black pepper to taste


Blend all of the ingredients together in a food processor. Blend it thoroughly to make sure you've really pulverized the carrot top leaves. Add more olive oil if needed to help it blend really well. I served a dollop over roasted root veggies for dinner the other night, and it was great! Use as you would regular pesto. Belly up!!