Autumn Fix for Pesto Lovers

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE pesto. That’s why we grow so much basil in our herb garden every summer.

Only this year’s basil crop was disappointing – to say the least. I don’t know what it was about our Carolina weather, but I had the worst basil crop I’ve had in the past two decades.

So, I’ve been looking for non-basil alternatives to get my pesto fix.

I stumbled upon a blog from Food & Wine about roasted carrots and carrot top pesto. Although I didn’t like the concept of using the pesto with the whole roasted carrots, I thought I should experiment. Besides, if I was buying so many carrots for juicing, I really wanted to give carrot top pesto a try.

While  the Food & Wine recipe in the link was interesting, I wanted to make it my own. I also wanted to actually use the carrots whose tops I was scalping in the dish – not whole and roasted, but as part of a more substantial dish with pasta and pine nuts.

What I came up with was intriguing and delicious. No, it doesn’t mirror a classic basil pesto, but it is awfully good – and perfect for an an Autumn dinner if you are interested in eating with the seasons.

I served it with my incredible roasted baby turnips – another fall veggie you may have shunned  . . . even though they look so cute in the market. With my technique, those baby turnips are tender, sweet, and delicious. You need to try them!

Please sign up for my newsletter if you’d like my recipe. It may take awhile to get to you if you are a newbie, but those of you who are my loyal followers will have it pronto.  I’ll also include my take on how to make baby turnips sweet and delicious – in short, veggies that even  a carnivore can love.

Don’t mourn the passing of summer and basil season.

Learn how to adapt and use parts of a well-loved veggie that you might normally consign to the trash or the compost pile to create a perfectly delicious Autumn dinner.