Winter is abundant with great root vegetables like carrots or parsnips. We don’t want to exclusively eat soups and stews, so enjoy making this dip that is fresh but hearty at the same time. We made it with Bon Appetit’s Flatbread which was inspired by Joshua McFadden’s recipe at Tusk in Portland, Oregon. Serve this up as a snack or alongside a light arugula salad for a light, wintery meal.
If you’re in New York, we recommend checking out Sahadi’s in Brooklyn or Kalustyan’s in the City. Both stores have an abundance of ingredients like labne and preserved lemons. We could honestly spend hours and our entire paychecks at these specialty grocers. If you want to just order specialty ingredients online, check out Snuk’s.
Serves 6-8 people
Ingredients
For Smashed Carrots
- 1.5 lbs carrots, halved or quartered lengthwise if very large
- 1 medium onion, cut into 1 inch wedges
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Zest of 1 lemon, plus juice of 1/2 lemon
- Kosher salt
For Preserved Lemon Salsa Verde
- 1 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup mint, roughly chopped
- 1 medium garlic clove, smashed and minced
- 1/2 preserved lemon – flesh removed, rinsed, and finely chopped
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- Olive oil, to moisten
- Salt, to taste
To Finish
- 1 cup labne, whole milk Greek yogurt, or farmer’s cheese
- 1/3 cup toasted pepitas
Method
Preheat oven to 425F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss carrots and onion with 2 tbsps oil, 1 tsp each cumin and coriander, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Roast until golden brown and tender, about 30-35 min, flipping halfway through.
Meanwhile, make the salsa verde. Combine all ingredients, parlsey through red pepper flakes, in a medium bowl. Moisten with olive oil until it’s damp but not soupy. Taste and add salt if necessary. It should be vibrant!
Back to the carrots: Transfer roasted carrots and onion to a food processor and pulse to form a very coarse paste, adding the zest of 1 lemon, juice of ½ lemon and kosher salt to taste. Keep it chunky.
To serve: Spread the labne, Greek yogurt or farmer’s cheese over the bottom of a medium, shallow platter. Dollop the smashed carrots atop, spreading the mix so it almost covers the dairy. Generously spoon the salsa verde over the carrots, then shower the whole thing with the toasted pepitas. Serve with warm pita, naan or flatbreads.
