Baby Carrots and Potatoes

I am not quite sure if I will have a nut roast or vegetarian polpettone for Xmas this year, but I thought of having a try with the veggies... and then I could not resist buying these baby carrots! I didn't plant carrots (yet), the carrot bed needs some serious stirring of soil, the clay is all compacted down in my garden, and crooked carrots are so hard to clean! Maybe I will plant some in the weeks to come, for now I enjoyed these :-)

It takes a while to clean the baby carrots, but then they look so cute! I put them in a pan with butter (you can use margarine) fresh sage and a pinch of salt. Just a little stir, while the butter is frying, and then turn the heat off and cover with a heavy lid: the carrots will cook in their own steam, and stay bright orange and lightly crispy.

I washed and boiled the potatoes in salted water until I was able to cut them with a knife (so, not too mushy).

Then I cut them in two or three pieces, placed them in a roasting pan lined with baking paper, added olive oil, garlic, ground cumin seeds, smoked paprika and salt. Straight into the oven for about one hour.

The potatoes were lightly spicy, and the carrot sweet and aromatic, very nice, even without roast :-)

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©