Glazed Carrots

The Persians and Afghans have been cultivating carrots since at least the 10th century, and from there, the carrot spread throughout Far East Asia. China cultivated carrots around the 12th century, and carrots popped up in Europe soon after.  Glazed Carrots are nothing new, then, but these Glazed Carrots take that classic staple to new heights.

There are 6 main “types” of carrots,  and they vary in colour, taste and texture.  Black, white, red, yellow, purple and the ubiquitous orange carrot – they’ve been cultivated for centuries.  Upon their introduction to Europe, Europeans used carrots for medicinal purposes. The Romans even thought they were aphrodisiacs!  And, during Victorian times, carrot tops were used to adorn women’s hair and hats! In the 1940’s, the British actually started the propoganda campaign that eating carrots would improve night vision and today 75% of Britons say they eat carrots regularly and they crunch through more than 10 billion carrots each year.

So let’s talk about Glazed Carrots – the use of honey in this vegetarian recipe really brings out the natural sweetness of the carrot, and tarragon adds an earthy peppery zestiness, and when combined with the butter, salt and pepper it creates a savoury, floral finish.  Play around with ingredients- replace the tarragon with any number of herbs; from rosemary, lemon thyme to dill and oregano;  remove the butter and this recipe is vegan.

The carrots are the star here, and finding the right accompaniment to bring out the inner character of humble vegetables is half the fun of cooking.  Carrots have bundles of flavour and loads of health benefits; Slow roasting the carrots keeps in the goodness and lends a sweeter taste and crunch.  These Glazed Carrots are a sure-fire winner, and best of all it takes almost no time at all.

Glazed Carrots

Dawn

An easy, gorgeous and tasty way to serve carrots

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Side Dish

Cuisine Continental

Servings 4 as a side

Equipment

• Electronic digital scales

Ingredients

  

• 12 Baby Carrots, peeled and trimmed
• 4 cm Piece of the white bit of Leek, sliced into rings 2 inches
• 1 Knob Butter [35g]
• 1 teaspoon Honey
• 2 Sprigs tarragon, leaves minced
• Salt and White pepper

Instructions

 

• Gather and weigh your ingredients

  Preheat the oven to 180C [350 F]

  Drape a piece of aluminium foil over a 15x23cm [6x9 inch] baking dish
• Melt the butter and honey, gently in a saucepan and add the leek. Cook on medium/medium low heat until the leek rings and soft and translucent- about 5-6 minutes.

  Using a slotted spoon, put the cooked leek on the bottom of the foil lined baking dish, then place the carrots on top.

  Tip the remaining melted butter/honey over the carrots, add salt & white pepper to taste and the minced tarragon.
• Fold up and seal the foil, and pop the dish into the oven.

  Depending on the size of your carrots, they should be ready within 40-ish minutes. Remove the foil, and serve. Garnish with an extra pinch of fresh tarragon