Carrot Purée
On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen
"When raw ingredients are salted, it helps extract the water from them. By breaking down the carrots first, it increases the surface area and expedites the process even more. As a result, it's possible to make a carrot purée with no extra water added, highlighting the pure flavor of carrot and nothing else. Serve as a side dish, or as a component of a larger dish, such as the Carrot Juice Cavatelli with Tops Salsa and Spiced Pulp Crumble."—Jeremy Fox
Adapted from On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen by Jeremy Fox (Phaidon, 2017).
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots
- 6 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
Method
Peel the carrots and then cut the carrots into rough 1-inch cubes. These do not have to be perfect, as they will all eventually be puréed.
In a bowl, toss the carrots with 2 tablespoons of the grapeseed oil and the salt and set them aside for about 10 minutes. Transfer the carrots to a food processor and blend them until they are broken up.
Transfer the mixture to a saucepot or large sauté plan. Set the pan over medium-low heat, cover, and cook, undisturbed, for 40 to 45 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when you can smear it with a spoon. (If you take it off the heat too early, you will find the texture of the purée to be somewhat grainy after you purée it.) Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend on low speed, then gradually increase to high speed while slowly adding in the remaining 4 tablespoons of grapeseed oil. Blend the purée to the consistency of mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt; it should have a pure carrot flavor. Store it refrigerated, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.
Yield
1 cup
