You may have never given your sad-looking carrots a second thought when chucking them in a roasting tin, but it turns out we've been cooking them wrong this whole time.
There are so many health benefits to including carrots in your diet, with the root vegetable promoting healthy skin, eyes, and heart. High in fibre, carotenoids, potassium and vitamin C, adding carrots to any meal will count as one of your five a day, but there's no need to force these down just because of their nutritional benefits - they can also be incredibly tasty.
This expert-approved recipe for roasted carrots will see you saying goodbye to the plain boiled variety for good, and they are so delicious you will likely make them a staple part of your Sunday lunch
First things first, what cooking fat you use plays a huge role in taking your roasted carrots to the next level. Rosemary Gill, from Milk Street Kitchen, explained to The Express that most of us are approaching cooking our carrots wrong right from the first step. She says simply using butter as well as olive oil to roast your veggies can bring out a myriad of flavours, because it will really caramelise in the oven.
The carrots, after being cooked in both fats, will be sweeter and nuttier, leaving you with "magic" results. Gill recommends that you cut your carrots in diagonals, allowing more space for the vegetable to crisp up, "For the best results, cut your carrots on the bias so they get a lot of surface area and more caramelisation".
You also want to use a lower temperature for this approach, and make sure your oven is properly pre-heated. Once they're chopped and ready to be cooked, ensure that they are all fully coated in the butter and oil in your roasting dish.
If you want to take your roasted carrots to the restaurant quality level, the expert advises you to grab an orange and roast slices of it alongside your carrots. She said: "We roast our citrus. When you have warm roasted orange juice, it just makes a more sophisticated dish than plain fresh orange juice".
When it comes to the rest of your seasoning, hold off until you are about halfway through the roasting process, and then add cumin, carraway, or zaatar to the dish, making sure it is evenly spread - alongside salt and pepper of course. Doing this later in the process ensures that your spices don't burn off and their flavours infuse the dish as much as possible.
The expert explains that to get the most out of your roasted carrots once you have dished them up, you should not hesitate to pour the buttery, orange-flavoured goodness on top of then. "Don't waste the spicy herby citrusy beautiful butter in the roasting pan. Once you��re done plating your dish, drizzle that on top," she explained.
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