Baking
57 recipes
Preparing Dutch (baby) carrots is a treat for guests. They really appreciate the effort, and everyone just feels like they are sitting down to a special homecooked meal, in a farm to plate moment. So, they are also an economical way to have some wow factor in a cheese starter.
They look fantastic but they also have such an amazing flavour. They are often glazed with honey, and so is haloumi, which is where I realised they would be perfect together. Our household adores maple syrup, with it’s woody, caramel notes. However, either would work beautifully.
To note- Dutch carrots are derived from the Dutch being the breeders behind the development of the orange carrot, which was more uniform in shape and traded well. They originally were white, pale yellow or purple, what we call heirloom carrots today.
Serves 4. V. GF
Pictured: Maple glazed Dutch carrots with haloumi
Ingredients
- 1 packet haloumi
- 1 bunch Dutch/baby carrots
- 25g unsalted butter
- 1 – 2 tbsp maple syrup – depending how large the bunch of carrots are
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Light olive oil
- Wash, scrub and prepare the carrots – this is the most time consuming part of this dish and needs to be done thoroughly as the stems usually have a bit of dirt embedded – if you haven’t got the time just cut the ends off, if you would like the lovely presentation of the green ends attached you will need to trim this well and wash a few times.
- Slice the haloumi into ½ cm slices and pat dry ready to pan fry.
Method
Heat a wide fry pan to med heat, melt the butter and I like to add a splash of light olive oil to prevent the butter burning, or be sure to watch the pan closely and swirl the butter often.
Add the carrots and coat in the butter, season with salt and pepper, cook for 10 – 12 minutes depending on their size – you want them to brown slightly all over and be cooked through and softened. Cook a few minutes longer if necessary.
Pictured: Panfrying Dutch carrots
Pour over the maple syrup to coat, and set aside on the serving platter ready for the haloumi.
Grab a new fry pan or wash this pan out to reheat again to medium – add some light olive oil and once the pan hot, add the haloumi slices and brown on each side, place next to the carrots ready to serve.
You could also add some lovely cooked bacon rashers to this dish (if not cooking for vegetarians), and tweak the flavours with a sprinkle of ground cumin, cinnamon or even a hint of ground chilli.
Dietary preferences
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-Free with ingredient checks
