Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Bacon, Pistachios, & Goat Cheese

This post is part of a 30th birthday dinner party series. 

A few months ago, I had dinner at Faith & Flower in DTLA and ate some amazing roasted rainbow carrots. I’m not particularly drawn to carrot dishes normally, but the combination of the sweet glaze, bacon lardons, pistachios, and goat cheese hit all the right notes. I recreated my own version of the dish for my dinner party, and although my roasted rainbow carrots were not an exact replica of Faith & Flower’s, I think they came quite close!

The flavors of this roasted rainbow carrot dish come from the jus and various garnishes. Making a jus can look a little intimidating at first, but believe me it’s not as hard as it looks! If you can sweat vegetables (aka cook but not brown), bring liquid to a simmer (just like boiling water!), and have the patience to let it reduce (like watching cookies bake in the oven), then this recipe is definitely doable for you.

For the dinner party, I took cues from my restaurant working days and made as much as I could in advance. The morning of, I washed and prepped the carrots, crisped the bacon, made the jus, and roasted and chopped the pistachios. As the carrots went into the oven to roast, I reheated the jus and bacon on low heat. However, if you don’t have any burners to spare, don’t worry too much about serving everything hot. A dinner party is not a restaurant! It’s ok if things aren’t perfect, in fact they shouldn’t be. That’s what makes it more fun! Plus, this dish is still quite good at room temperature, so no need to worry about the temperature too much.

These roasted rainbow carrots are sweet and savory with a lot of textural variety. I paired them with a roast rack of lamb, a hand salad with a Greek yogurt buttermilk dressing, fingerling potatoes with kale pesto, and a chocolate earl grey mascarpone cake, but I think the flavors would work great on a wintery holiday spread (I’m looking at you Thanksgiving!).

Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Bacon, Pistachios, & Goat Cheese

• Author: Jessica
• Yield: 6 Servings
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Roasting

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Description

Inspired by a side dish at Faith & Flower in Los Angeles, these roasted rainbow carrots are sweet and savory with a lot of textural variety.

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Ingredients

2 pounds (907 g) rainbow carrots, cut thick carrots in half
3 tablespoons (45g) olive oil
Fresh rosemary, thyme, or oregano
Salt & pepper to taste
2 cups (500g) chicken stock
4 slices of bacon or pancetta, dice or cut into 3/4 cm (1/2 inch) thick pieces
1 medium shallot, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 tablespoons (35g) mirin
3 tablespoons (25g) pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup (55g)  goat cheese

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss carrots with the fresh herbs, salt, and pepper. Spread evenly on the baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes. Turn the carrots every 10 minutes to insure even cooking.

2. Meanwhile, make the jus. Pour the stock in a saucepan and place over medium low heat. Heat a skillet until hot. Add the bacon and cook until browned. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Add the shallots into the pan and sweat. After the shallots have been in the pan 2 minutes, add the garlic. Once they are cooked, at the mirin and scrape the pan to pick up all the caramelized bits. Once the liquid has reduced in half, add 1/4 of the stock. Let the liquid come to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Add the rest of the stock little by little until all of it has been used. When the liquid has reduced to 1/3 its original quantity, strain into a saucepan and continue to simmer until the jus is thick and syrup like. Then take off heat.

3. When ready to plate, use a brush to coat the jus onto the carrots. Sprinkle with the pistachios and goat cheese. Serve warm.

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Keywords: roasted, rainbow carrots, bacon, pistachios, goat cheese, side dish, dinner party