Did I mention that I had 18 people over for Christmas? So, I had to use all the guns in my arsenal to create tasty, but not overly complicated, meals that could feed a whole football team (reserves included).
In all fairness, I decided to use pomegranate molasses because halfway through my prep I realised that I did not have any honey. I reached for my molasses selection – I am a bit ashamed to confess that I have a molasses problem: every time I have a chance, I get a new type (so far, I have mulberry, carob, grape and the aforementioned pomegranate, but who’s counting?!).
I love how the acidity of the pomegranate cut through the sweetness of the carrot and added a lovely pinkish hue to the finished dish. It was so festive!
I used an (un)healthy amount of butter and just a touch of miso, but you can scale it down if you prefer. This, with molasses, created a gorgeous rich glaze that I could not resist finishing off with sprinkles of z’aatar, – after all Jesus Christ was born in the Middle East!
Ingredients:
1kg of carrots
50g of butter
1 tsp of miso
1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses
Z’aatar (if you don’t have it, you could just substitute with a mixture of oregano and thyme)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Preheat your oven to 200C. Prep your carrots. I was lucky to have some local organic carrots that were left over from pesto-making for markets before Christmas. I just scrubbed, washed and cut them in half.
Melt the butter on your oven dish. Mix in the miso until incorporated. Add your carrot, stir them well to make sure they are covered in the butter/miso mix. Season to taste.
Roast for about 20 minutes. Take them out the oven and add the molasses. Put them back in the oven for another 10 minutes. When they are ready, sprinkle with z’aatar or your dried herb mix.
