I assumed that a carrot was a carrot, no matter what color. Not these purple carrots. I can’t figure out which way is up — or down, for that matter. I’m talking about the inner core, that sweet part of your average carrot. (Officially, it’s called the phloem, the part of plant that transports sugars and other nutrients from the roots, up the stems and to the leaves.)
With these two purple carrots, the core was tender and tough at random points. In some parts, the core was simply too tough for human teeth. I ended up cutting out the core entirely, rather than finding the few precious centimeters of sweet, tender flesh.
After taking the knife to the tender, outer section, I added finely sliced carrots, along with baby heirloom tomatoes (from Trader Joe’s), to a pan with sauteed onions and garlic. After throwing in some salt and pepper, I stirred, reduced the heat and then covered for about 10 minutes. Then, to complete the dish, I threw in some fusili pasta.
I’ll have to admit, the flavor of the purple carrot wasn’t very apparent. At least it added to the palate of colors created by the multi-colored heirloom tomatoes. Otherwise, I’m not sure how purple carrots would fit into my usual inventory of ingredients.
Now, the truth: The purple carrots substituted for the cardoons for what was originally supposed to be “Chef Andrew’s simplest Cardoon-Pasta Preparation”. What’s a cardoon? Good question. It’s a vegetable, one that I learned needs far more than just 20 minutes of blanching.
