I sometimes feel like Bugs Bunny – I cannot get enough of carrots. Then, for a while I completely forget about carrots, after that I remember again.. I generally like to make a simple salad with raw carrots and tomatoes: I just grate carrots, chop tomatoes and bring them together with a bit of salt, olive oil and lemon juice. This recipe though, is a whole new thing for me.

 

 

This dipping sauce is so light that you can eat it any time of the day and it also feels very healthy. It is also quite fast to make, the only thing that takes time is peeling the carrots and boiling / steaming them.

 

I adapted this recipe from the mezze cookbook I bought last summer in Istanbul Airport. The original recipe calls for steaming carrots and I would have loved to do that too. However I did not have my steaming pot on hand and I boiled the carrots instead, which ended in a delicious result. If you have the tools for steaming, though, by all means do that. It is both healthier and more delicious that way.

 

 

 

If you are vegan, you can keep yogurt out of the picture, the puree itself is very delicious indeed. Alternatively, you can use non-dairy yogurt, like coconut yogurt. The most important thing to have: fresh, crusty bread to get into a serious dipping action. Enjoy!
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Ingredients:

 

Difficulty: ★☆☆ (Easy)
(serves 6-8)

 

Printable PDF-recipe (no photos)

 

For carrot purée:
1 kg carrots, peeled, washed and chopped coarsely (and roughly same size) for easier boiling / steaming
3 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp salt (or more, depending on your taste)
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

 

For yogurt part:
350 gr. thick Turkish or Greek yogurt
3 garlic cloves, crushed (if you are not fan of raw garlic, you can leave this out)
salt & pepper to taste

 

For service:
drizzle of olive oil
mint leaves
fresh, crusty bread

 

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1. Boil or steam the carrots until they are very soft.

 

 

2. Put soft carrots in a food processor to make a smooth purée (as smooth as possible at this stage). If you don’t have a food processor, you can mash them with a fork or a potato masher etc. by hand.

 

 

 

3. Add olive oil, lemon juice and caraway seeds and continue beating them to make the purée.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Add salt and pepper and continue to beat by adjusting it according to your taste. The purée is ready, put aside.

 

 

 

5. In a medium bowl, put yogurt, add garlic and salt and pepper to taste and mix them well simply with a fork.

 

 

 

 

6. Arrange carrot purée on your service dish, by creating a hole or a shallow part in the middle. Put yogurt mixture in the middle and garnish with mint leaves. Drizzle with olive oil. Serve right away with fresh, crusty bread.