A visit to the farmer’s market is inspiring, uplifting and one of the finest ways to start a morning. There is a local one, not too far from our home, that brings lovely spread of seasonal produce every week. On certain Fridays, I worry less about morning cleaning or prepping lunch and instead, I make a trip to the market. I walk pass the stalls at a slow pace, taking time to explore. There are huge bunches of vibrant greens, purple cauliflowers, baby artichokes and tender asparagus all screaming spring. And there in the corner, I see colorful spring carrots with feathery leaves attached to it. These are my favorites. I pick a bunch, placing it very carefully in my bag, making sure not to spoil the lovely greens.
Recipe ideas start flowing in and I am already dreaming of our next meal.
I remember a silly act I did last year. When I came home one spring morning with a bag full of these carrots, I chopped off the tops and threw it without even thinking through. It was only after I spoke to mom the next day, it occurred to me that it’s edible. Lesson learnt!
This time, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Few months’ back, a friend had shared a cilantro chutney recipe with me while sipping wine at a party. It has peanuts, coconut flakes, cumin and cilantro, which I thought was a lovely flavor blend. I wanted to try it this time but with the feathery carrot greens. I updated her recipe a tad bit by adding olive oil to give it a creamy sauce like texture.
Tossed the shaved carrots, boiled pasta with the spicy creamy sauce and it turned into a beautiful spring lunch. Just the image I had while buying these carrots.
Pasta with shaved carrots and carrot green sauce
Ingredients
for the carrot green sauce
- 2 cups carrot leaves without the stalks
- ½ inch ginger
- 3 green chilies
- 1 teaspoon toasted cumin
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons grated coconut
- 2 tablespoons peanuts
- juice of half lemon
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste
rest of the ingredients
- 6 to 7 spring carrots
- 2 cups pasta (I used fusilli)
- feta cheese to crumble on top (optional)
Instructions
- To make the sauce, put everything in a food processor (except olive oil) and grind until it forms a smooth paste. Now, pour oil and run the processor once again to form a creamy sauce.
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel the carrots into thin strips.
- Boil enough water in a pot for the pasta. Once done, add salt and drop the pasta in boiling water. Set the timer for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, drop shaved carrots and let it cook for 1 minute. Drain everything into a serving bowl and pour the carrot leave sauce on the same bowl.
- Toss everything together and serve warm.
- Feel free to add some feta or parmesan cheese on top.
Nutrition
Reese@SeasonwithSpic
What a colorful & fun dish! How funny that all the ladies think alike - your action shots & the blue bangles. They caught my eyes first, then I see everyone says the same thing when I scrolled down the comment section:) Makes me feel like I am at your house, enjoying the dish with a bunch of friends of yours.A fun party it would be.
Radhika Vasanth
Love those bangles K, it makes the picture stand out. I wouldn't have thought of making a pasta sauce from carrot greens.
Nusrat Azim
Picture#3 ...your hand, and the bangles,and that blue hue in your wrist is such a joy to watch 🙂 Adorable photography. Love.
Cookie and Kate
I must confess I haven't made it to the farmers' market yet this year. I'll have to change that next weekend! I'm so intrigued by the flavor combination in this green sauce. It sounds delightful.
Mallika
Loved ur idea of using carrot greens. I've never seen carrot greens in India, except on my trips to hill stations like Ooty and Munnar. Lovely styling and a beautiful recipe.
jehanne
That's very clever, I never thought the greens can be used, but we rarely get that kind of super fresh carrots with greens attached to them! Now, now you make even the simplest of pasta looks so delicious!
Pia
love, love the new look, kankana! it's clean and crisp, nd the logo is perfectly playful. so well done!
and a favourite from this post - pretty hand with pretty bangles. khub shundor chhobi ta 🙂
Ananda Rajashekar
Love the pictures in actions Kankana! Blue and green bangles adds the special zing and brings the life in the pictures! i feel it right in here so vivid! What a shame i threw carrot green two weeks before now i know what to do next time! Girl i'm going to dream these pictures! can't wait to meet you in person soon and give a squeezing hug to say how much i love your pictures and ofcourse you!
Kankana Saxena
Thanks babe, hand shooting is difficult but fun at the same time 🙂 So glad you liked it and I too hope we get to meet someday, somewhere! (((hugs)))
Nik@ABrownTable
That looks so delicious. I too toss out the greens since I never really pay much attention to them. However, thanks to you I can now look at them in a different light and cook them more often!
Abby@TheFrostedVegan
Look at the gorgeous colors of those carrots, love! I also really enjoy recipes that can use the bits that we would normally throw away.
Zach
Your photos are stunning and your recipes sound delectable. We would love for you to share them at thefeastingeye.com. The Feasting Eye is still a bit new, but I think you will like what you see :-).
Helene D'souza
What a wonderful pasta. Just love your pictures, they are so inspiring and I feel like going into the kitchen and making your recipe now. 🙂
Lail | With A Spin
Love the idea of carrot green sauce. Never used them. Thanks for the idea.