Pesto Made with Carrot Tops

Don't throw out leafy green carrot tops. Use them to make a tasty pesto sauce perfect for topping pasta or as a dip.

An abundant carrot harvest this year has given me a lot of carrot tops. I've thrown them away in the past, always wondering if there was something I use them for.

There is! Carrot tops are edible; you could add them to a salad if you wanted. 

What I prefer to do is use them to make pesto. I make a big batch and freeze so I can have pesto to eat all year.

Pesto is traditionally made with basil, and if you have fresh basil, you can use it along with the carrot tops. The first time I made it, I did a mix of the two, but in Florida the seasons for carrots and basil don't overlap much.

Ingredients for Carrot Top Pesto

• Carrot Tops (and basil if you prefer)
• 1/2 cup Nuts for each cup of carrot tops (Pinenuts are traditional for pesto, but I use less expensive walnuts. Pecans are also good. If you have an abundance of a nut, try it.)
• Salt to taste
• Garlic to taste (a clove can be chopped up with everything else; fresh garlic bothers my stomach, so I use garlic powder)
• Lemon juice to taste
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil for each cup of carrot tops
• Hard cheese such as Parmesean or romano to taste

To Make the Pesto

1. Remove the leafy parts of the carrot tops from the larger stems. Wash and drain. Pat dry to remove as much water as possible.
2. Put nuts in the bowl of a large food processor and pulse to chop up. Add in as many of the carrot tops as will fit, then pulse to break up. Scrape the bowl of the processor, and add more carrot tops. Pulse several times. If using fresh garlic, add it now.
3. Once everything is finely chopped, add the salt, lemon juice, and garlic powder (if not using fresh garlic).
4. Turn the processor on high and let it run. Through the tube, slowly add the olive oil, a few tablespoons at a time. Check the consistency and add more oil. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. 
5. Continue processing, adding oil a few tablespoons at a time, until reaching desired consistency.
6. If you are going to eat the pesto immediately, add the cheese now, and process to distribute it. Serve over warm pasta. If you are going to freeze the pesto for later use, do not add cheese, and follow steps below.

To Freeze the Pesto

1. I use an old ice cube tray, and fill each compartment with the pesto. 
2. Place it in the freezer until frozen, several hours or overnight. 
3. To remove from tray, run a dull knife (such as a table knife) around the edge of each cube to help release it, and store in a freezer bag until needed.

To Use Frozen Pesto

1. When ready to use, pull out the number of cubes needed. (I find 3-4 work good for one serving). 
2. Put in a pan over low heat. 
3. As they thaw, stir and add more olive oil if needed. 
4. When heated through, stir in grated hard cheese of your choice. Serve over warm pasta, or use as a dip.

Click below to watch the video of me making pesto with carrot tops.

Want More Ideas for Cooking with Scraps?

Don't throw out what you can use! You can find more recipes and ideas in the Cooking with Scraps label.

Shrimp and Spaghetti - Quick and Easy Recipe

This shrimp and spaghetti meal is quick and easy to pull together. With only a handful of ingredients, you can have it ready to go in no time.

Last week my husband and I were trying to come up with something to have for dinner. We both wanted something "different", meaning, we hadn't eaten it in the last week or so. We each made suggestions when he said "why not do the shrimp and spaghetti thing you do with the Italian dressing."

Sounded good to me, and we were soon eating and enjoying it.

Note: I don't measure when I prepare this, so my amounts are estimates. If you are using leftovers, take what you have and go from there. Experiment and play around with it.

Ingredients

• Shrimp - I used frozen, raw shrimp; you can also use cook shrimp and this would be a great way to use up leftover shrimp
• Spaghetti or other pasta your family enjoys - if you have leftover pasta, start with that!
• Green onion, chopped - regular onion bothers both our stomachs, but green onion makes a good substitute for us
• Bottled Italian salad dressing - I have never found a homemade version I like better, but if you have one, please send it to me!
• Butter or oil to cook the shrimp in
• Salt and pepper
• Garlic powder (again, garlic bothers both our stomachs, but garlic powder does not so we use it instead)

Instructions

Put the water on to boil to cook the spaghetti. 

Melt butter in a cast iron skillet then add shrimp. Season with pepper and garlic and cook.

When water comes to a boil, add salt and return to a boil. Add pasta and stir in well so it cooks evenly. 

When shrimp are almost done, stir in the green onion and cook them.

When pasta is cooked, drain well and return to pan. Stir in the shrimp, then pour in some Italian dressing. Do NOT add too much to begin with - add some, stir in well, then add more if needed.

Spoon onto a plate or bowl and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired.

Serving note - I often serve peas or green beans with this, and I usually just mix them in with the pasta, coating the vegetable with the dressing as well. This would be another way to use up leftover vegetables.

Try It Yourself

That's all there is to it! If you have already cooked food, you only need a few minutes to warm things up and put them on a plate. If you cook everything from scratch, as I did, within 45 minutes you can be eating a homecooked meal. 

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Vegetable Broth - Cooking With Scraps

Instead of throwing out vegetable scraps, leftover vegetables, and other bits and pieces, turn them into a broth to use in your cooking. 

This practice has several benefits. You save money. You produce less that needs to be thrown out. And you know where your food has come from.

Vegetable Broth from Scraps

Watch the video then scroll down for more detailed instructions.

Please note - this article may contain affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small compensation at no additional cost to you.

What to Save

Whenever you peel a potato or carrot, when you cut the ends off celery or squash or snap the ends off beans or peas, you probably throw that away. I did for years. Somewhere in my mind, however, I thought there must be a way to use these cast-off bits.

Saving Vegetable Scraps

One way is to save them in the freezer. When you fill a bag or two, you have enough to make the broth. How much you need depends on what size pot you have and how much space you have to store the broth.

Making the Broth

Dump saved vegetable scraps into a pot large enough to hold the vegetables and water. Cover and turn to low-to-medium heat. As vegetables begin to thaw, use a spoon to break them apart. Once they are broken apart, add water until about halfway up the side of the pot. 

Cover and let simmer about 45 minutes. 

It will look something like this when it is done.

Strain the Broth

Now it is time to strain the broth. I begin with a large strainer to get the pieces of vegetables and peels. Then I pour it through a finer strainer to catch more bits and pieces.  

The broth is now ready to use just as you would any broth you bought. I like to use it to season rice and to make mushroom gravy to serve with pork chops.

Saving the Broth

If you save a bag or two of vegetable scraps, you will get a lot of broth when you make it. To save it, you could can it or you can freeze it, which I prefer.  It is easy to pull out and thaw whenever I need some.

I like to freeze mine in an ice cube tray. When frozen, pop it out and put in a freezer storage bag.

I originally used an ice cube tray, each section holding about 1/3 cup of liquid. I recently purchased a freezer tray from Souper Cubes. I got the 1-cup size, which is the amount I often find I need. I love them, and realize I need a second tray!

Use whatever size container you have available. Be sure to fill it with water to know how much it will hold so you know how many of them you will need when cooking.

That's all there is to it! You can add seasonings when you cook the broth, but I prefer not to so I can season whatever I use it with.

Notes:

I have also found that when you use a lot of celery scraps, it smells overwhelmingly of celery while it is cooking. The taste, however, is not of celery. 

I've read where others suggest NOT using asparagus or tomatoes in a vegetable broth. I've never tried either, so I can't comment. 

When you strain out the vegetables, compost them if you can. They are cooked and should break down fast. 

If you have any questions, leave a comment. If you try it, let me know!

Homegrown and Homemade - Basil Pesto

 In this episode of Homegrown and Homemade, I make basil pesto!

Pesto from Basil I Grew from Seed

Backstory - in December 2019, I ordered seeds from Baker Creek. In my order they sent a free package of Dark Purple Opal basil seeds. I planted them in the spring of 2020 and they did really well in my garden. I kept saying I was going to make pesto with it, but I didn't own a food processor. I read articles about doing it by hand with a kitchen knife and thought I would give it a try. But I never did.

I planted the basil again this year, and was determined to do more than add the basil to salads and sandwiches. I bought a food processor and within a day was picking basil and making pesto.  

I had more basil than I needed for that batch of pesto, so I put them on a rack to slowly air dry in my oven. 

My basil plant is still producing and I plan to make more pesto, both to eat fresh and to freeze for eating later.  I have planted more seeds and am letting some go to seed to learn if I can keep some going through the winter. 

What is really exciting about this having something else to put on my pasta. I had trouble with acid reflex a few years ago, and one thing I did to help control it was eliminate tomato-based pasta sauces. Since then, I've eaten pasta with a splash of olive oil and some cheese. It is good that way, but I got tired of only that. This summer I started taking fresh tomatoes, bell peppers and some greens from my garden, sautéed them in some olive oil and tossed with pasta and parmesan cheese. And now, I can make pesto and use that as well!

Making the Pesto

I'm reading The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making by Alana Chernila and adapted her recipe. Here's what I did:

Chopped 1/2 cup walnuts in the food processor. 

Added in 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 2 cups packed, fresh basil leaves roughly chopped

Processed until basil leaves were finely minced. 

Sprinkled in garlic powder (fresh garlic can be another trigger to my reflux) and 1/2 teaspoon salt, then turned on processor and poured in 1/2 cup olive oil and processed for a few more seconds. (Basically, I ran it until it looked like I wanted it to.)

 

Using and Storing the Pesto

I ate some as a dip with crackers, then put the rest in a container, covered with olive oil, and stored in fridge. You can add in grated parmesan cheese when you eat it. You can also put in freezer (without cheese) and store for up to 6 months.

Once the basil in the oven is dry, I'm going to crumble it up and use in recipes as needed.

Homegrown and Homemade - August 18, 2021

 Here is a triumph for this week:

That is a salad I made to go with my dinner one night. And is all homegrown.

For the salad I picked New Zealand spinach, basil, purslane, celery leaves and stalks (regrown), lemon balm, chives, and bell peppers.

For the dressing, it was homemade with ingredients I bought at the store: olive oil, apple cider vinegar, peppercorns and mustard I made from mustard seeds and vinegar.

Compared to what many people produce from their garden this may not seem like much, but I am pleased that I can put together part of my meal from what I grew in my urban container garden. 

And a confession - this was not the best salad I have ever eaten. I think a different mix of greens (some lettuce would have been nice) or a different dressing would have made it better. But it filled me up and I am proud of being able to grow some of the food I eat.