Waste-Free Veg Top Pesto
https://foodloversmarket.co.za/recipes/veg-top-pesto/
Hey, don’t throw away those leafy tops of carrots, radish, or beets! Leafy top pesto is a thing, and it’s delish. This is a fantastic beetroot and radish top pesto recipe to reuse and reduce food wastage. Most elements in this recipe are made from offcuts. We served the pesto with a mix of veggie offcuts, that one would normally throw away – but actually, they make serious yummy snacks!
Veg top pesto is versatile, you can use carrot tops, mix them up, or substitute the pumpkin seeds for sunflower seeds or even almonds.
Cooking Methods
- Blending
Serves
6Prep Time
25 minutesCooking Time
25 minutesIngredients
For the Leafy Pesto:
- Carrot tops of 1 bunch of carrots, washed
- Radish leaves from 1 bunch of radishes, washed
- Handful of fresh coriander
- 125ml (1/2 cup) Food Lover’s Market Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1-2 small garlic cloves
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 60ml (1/4 cup) butternut or pumpkin seeds
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Veg Off-cuts Crudité Platter:
- Reserved potato peels
- Reserved carrot peels
- Reserved broccoli and cauliflower stalks
- 4-6 slices of stale bread
- Olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 10 ml (2 tsp) dried mixed herbs
- 4 radishes, thinly sliced
Directions
For the Leafy Pesto:
- Place all ingredients in a blender and season to taste. Blend until smooth. Pour the pesto in a serving bowl and set aside until needed.
- Shallow or deep fry the potato and carrot peels until slightly browned and crispy. Drain on a kitchen towel and season with salt.
- Heat a griddle pan with a dash of oil and fry the cauliflower and broccoli stalks for about 5 minutes per side on a high heat or until browned and cooked.
- Cut the bread to your liking. Drizzle some olive oil on the bread and sprinkle with garlic and herbs, toast in the oven for about 10 minutes or until browned and crispy.
- To arrange your platter, arrange the potato and carrot peels on a serving platter along with the broccoli and cauliflower steaks, crostini and sliced radishes. Serve with the leafy pesto and you have a great snack platter.
