Smoked Yoghurt and Carrot Salad

Matt Wilkinson
Head Chef and Owner of Pope Joan

Late 2010 saw Matt depart Circa to open the café Pope Joan, in East Brunswick Melbourne, with business partner Ben Foster. With its strong emphasis on locally-grown and seasonal fare, with a distinctly British twist, Pope Joan soon became a destination. Three years on and Pope Joan has a fantastic little produce store called Hams and Bacon, Matt has published 2 books Mr Wilkinson’s Favourite Vegetables and Mr Wilkinson’s Simply Dressed Salads and has contributed regularly to Delicious Magazine

 

Ingredients

• 150g Greek style yoghurt
• 50ml milk
• 3 bunch baby carrots, washed leaves left on
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• pinch salt
• pepper
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
• 4 cloves smoked garlic
• 2 tbsp dukka
• 1 tbsp almonds
• 1 tbsp sultanas
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan
• 100g honey
• 2 tbsp chardonnay vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp orange flower water

Method

1. Turn the Function dial to ROAST cook setting
2. Turn the Time dial to 1 hours
3. Turn the Temperature Dial to 220C
4. Press the Start button 
5. In a bowl mix together the yoghurt and milk to make it looser and easier to spread. Set aside.
6. Line a baking dish that fits into the oven with baking paper.
7. Cut the tops (leaves) from the carrots and set aside.
8. Place the carrots into the baking dish and bake for 15 minutes or until slightly crisp. Remove and transfer to a mortar and pestle. Smash the tops and the parsley together until they start to break up, then add the garlic, dukka, almonds, sultanas, Parmesan and a little salt smash for a few minutes more until it you have a rough paste.
9. Add the oil, vinegar and orange flower water and give a good mix to form a carrot top pesto. Cover and set aside.
10. Season the carrots with  a little of the olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the carrots into the baking tray and baking for 20-30 minutes or until tender.
11. Add the carrots to a mixing bowl, you can slice some in half if you like, then dress the carrots with the pesto.
12. Place some yoghurt on a plate, top with the carrots.