Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the carrots:

• 2 x 400g bunches of carrots with tops (a mixture of colours looks nice), scrubbed
• olive oil, for drizzling
• a few sprigs of rosemary
• ½ unwaxed lemon

For the salsa rustica:

• 1 shallot, very finely chopped
• 2-3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 50g pistachios, shelled
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 3 tbsp capers
• 10 green olives, pitted
• a small bunch of mint
• a small bunch of parsley
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• ½ tsp honey or agave
• 1 unwaxed lemon
• 120ml extra virgin olive oil

For the white beans:

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 x 600g jar butter beans
• 2 bay leaves
• the juice of ½ unwaxed lemon

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7.

Break the carrot tops off with your hands. Discard all but a handful of the tops. Halve the carrots lengthways, then toss them in a roasting tray with enough olive oil to coat, and add the rosemary and some salt and pepper. 

Add half a lemon to the tray and place in the hot oven for 40 minutes until the carrots are soft to the point of a knife and catching at the edges. Keep the oven on, but reduce the heat to 160°C/140°C fan/gas 2.

While the carrots are roasting, make the salsa rustica. Put the shallots into a small bowl and cover them with the red wine vinegar, then let them macerate for about 20 minutes.

Place the reserved carrot top leaves in a small heatproof bowl and fill and boil the kettle. Pour the boiling water over the carrot tops for 10 seconds, then drain and run under cold water to preserve the bright green colour. You can skip this bit if you are short on time.

Squeeze out as much moisture from the carrot top leaves as you can, then place in a food processor with the pistachios, garlic, capers, olives, herbs, apple cider vinegar and honey or agave in that order.

Add the juice from half the lemon and pour in half the olive oil. Continue adding the olive oil, a little at a time (you may not need it all), pulsing until you have a chunky pesto consistency.

Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding a little more lemon if you like. Drain and stir in the shallots.

To make the white beans, place the roasting tray you used for the carrots on a hob and heat the oil and fry the garlic until it’s soft and fragrant, moving it around to make sure it doesn’t catch and burn.

Add the butter beans, with a couple of tablespoons of the liquid from the jar, the bay leaves and a squeeze of lemon juice. Cook for 15 minutes, pushing down regularly with a wooden spoon to break down the beans to a smooth and creamy consistency, adding a little more liquid from the jar if needed.

Season with lots of black pepper (you shouldn’t need any salt as the jarred beans are salty enough) and perhaps a squeeze more lemon juice.

Spread the white bean dip on a platter, arrange the carrots over the top and spoon over a quarter of the salsa rustica, with the rest in a bowl on the side for spooning over. 

From One: Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones (£26, HarperCollins), out now