Herb-Roasted Carrot Tartines with Pesto and Goat Cheese

My grandma would often cook carrots for us growing up, a typical side dish for most family meals.

“Carrots are good for your eyes,” she’d tell me as I pushed the boiled orange coins, floating in pools of butter, around my plate.

Grandma had worn thick, plastic-framed glasses the whole time I’d known her, and I’d qualified as near-sighted almost as soon as I went to school. So the idea of not wearing glasses was appealing.

She knew her audience, you could say.

Thanks to her, carrots became one of the first vegetables I genuinely wanted to eat, along with green beans and potatoes.

She was obviously right about the health benefits of carrots. Real food, grown on trees or in the ground, is filled with real benefits – but I only learned later that the health benefits of these foods were just the beginning.

Sure, carrots are crazy high in beta carotene, antioxidants, and anthocyanins… but they’re also delicious. They’re tasty steamed, grilled, or pressure cooked.

But I love them the most when they’re roasted.

If you ask me, roasting is to vegetables what carpentry is to lumber. Through oil, heat, and seasoning, roasting becomes a testament to transformation.

And in the case of carrots, the glory of roasting shines bright.

I’ve featured them before in a basil-flecked crostata, and have another recipe to add on to my list: these beautiful tartines!

Matchstick slices of carrots are tossed with an herbed oil mixture made with fresh dill, basil, and parsley. Sprinkled with salt and pepper, the vegetables go into the oven for about 30 minutes.

When they are done (slightly charred, a little wilted, yet still al dente), they are amazing on their own.

But they taste even better when layered on slices of crusty bread.

My tartines – or crostini or bruschetta or toasts – are simple to assemble: toast, soft fresh chevre, garlicky pesto, carrots, a little maple syrup, and chopped parsley sprinkled in top. They’re pretty as a picture, the kind of thing to make you double-take and want to grab a bite.

They’d make interesting appetizers for a party, although I’ll admit we ate them for dinner alongside a giant salad stuffed with roasted beets. And they’re hard not to love, from the crunchy base of toast to the sweet and savory toppings piled on top.

But mostly above all else, these tartines beautifully showcase the carrot, in all its nutritional, colorful, candy-like glory.

I like eating them and thinking, I’m doing Grandma proud.

Print

Cooking by the Numbers…

Step 1 – Prep the Vegetables

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the carrots and cut them into skinny matchsticks, first halving them vertically and then halving them vertically again.

Spread them out onto a half-sheet baking pan lined with a silicone mat or foil.

You can even use our recipe for roasted rosemary carrots with honey glaze for an entirely different flavor profile – give it a try!

Step 2 – Make the Seasoning

Stir together the olive oil with the 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, dill, and basil. Toss the mixture with the carrots until evenly coated. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the top – use freshly ground salt and pepper for bites of amazing flavor and texture.

Step 3 – Roast

Mix the herbed oil with the carrot sticks on the baking sheet pan until everything is evenly coated.

Roast for 35-45 minutes, until carrots are beautifully golden and lightly browned around the tips and edges. Remove carrots from oven as you move on to the next steps.

Don’t turn off the oven! You’ll need to keep the oven on to toast the bread slices.

Step 4 – Make the Pesto

As the carrots are cooling, prep the pesto. Use your preferred recipe, or try one of Foodal’s fresh and tasty favorites like kale almond, lemon basil, vegan, or pistachio basil.

Step 5 – Toast the Bread

We. Love. Bread. You have plenty of crusty, fluffy options to choose for this recipe – a rustic pain paillasse or an artisanal sourdough bread are both calling our names.

Just make sure you’re using a good bread knife and sturdy cutting board to slice the bread into 10 even slices about 1/4 inch thick.

Place slices on a baking sheet and toast until lightly browned and crisp. Remove and let cool slightly.

Step 6 – Assemble and Serve

Spread the top of each slice with the cheese. Using an offset spatula makes spreading very fast for each piece of toast. The chevre should also be at room temperature, which helps soften the cheese for easy spreading.

Lightly spread the pesto on top of the cheese. Evenly divide the roasted carrots on top of the pesto.

When ready to serve, transfer the slices to a serving platter. Drizzle with a little maple syrup all over the top, and garnish with chopped parsley. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

A Recipe That Would Make Grandma Smile

Grandma will be happy to know that I’m eating my vegetables with absolutely no complaints, especially with this amazing dish.

In this recipe, I tried something different that goes beyond simply roasting my favorite orange vegetables – and I think you’ll really enjoy it, as well.

Serve this at your next party, and see how everyone else will be entertained with each bite of the playful textures and flavors, from the browned, nearly candied carrots to the creamy goat cheese spread.

Eat, enjoy, savor!

What do you think of this unique take on crostini? What pesto recipe will you be using for this dish? Let me know how this dish inspires you to make your own version in the comments below, after rating the recipe.