Roasted Carrots with Carrot Top Pesto and Burrata

This recipe is lightly adapted from April Bloomfield's "A Girl and Her Greens.
" If you can't find small carrots for this dish, just roll cut larger ones—I've done this successfully a few times.

Serves 4 to 6

For the carrot top pesto:

• 4cups lightly packed washed carrot tops, stems discarded and roughly chopped, a small handful reserved
• Handful basil leaves
• 1/2cup walnuts, toasted
• 1ounce grated Parmesan cheese
• 1medium garlic clove, halved lengthwise
• 1teaspoon Maldon or other flaky sea salt
• 1/2cup extra-virgin olive oil

For the carrots:

• 20small carrots, scrubbed and tops trimmed but stems left on
• 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1teaspoon plus a few pinches flaky salt
• 1/2pound burrata, drained and at room temperature
• 3tablespoons carrot top pesto, plus more to taste
• Small handful basil leaves
• Half a lemon
• Bread, for serving (optional)

1. Make the pesto: Combine the carrot tops and basil in a food processor, pulse, then add the nuts, cheese, garlic, and salt. Pulse again, and then with the machine continuously running, add the oil in a thin stream. (You'll have to stop to scrape down the sides a few times.) Taste and adjust for seasoning.
2. Make the carrots: Heat oven to 500° F with a rack in the center.
3. Pour 2 tablespoons of the oil into an ovenproof pan large enough to hold the carrots in a single layer (or do this step in two pans). Let the oil come to barely smoking over high heat, then add the carrots and stir to coat them in the oil. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt.
4. Cook, turning occasionally, until the carrots are browning in spots—this should take 6 to 8 minutes, and the carrots won't yet be cooked through.
5. Once they're nicely browned in spots, place the whole pan in the hot oven and roast, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender and cooked through, about 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
6. Toss the cooked carrots very gently, as they'll be soft, with the prepared pesto, using more or less based on your taste. Transfer the coated carrots to a platter, and top with the burrata. (You may want to halve or quarter your burrata, depending on its size, but that part is up to you.)
7. Add a few more dollops of pesto to the carrots, here and there, and sprinkle each piece of burrata with a bit of flaky salt.
8. Dress the reserved handful of carrot top sprigs with a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, and a small pinch of salt, then top the carrots and burrata with the greens. Serve with toast for mopping up the cheese and bread, if you like.

https://food52.com/recipes/35945-roasted-carrots-with-carrot-top-pesto-and-burrata