I saw a picture for hasselback carrots on Instagram and I knew I wanted to both try these and share the recipe on my blog, so I can remember to make these again. In our family no human likes carrots, while the dog loves them. This means that while I always have carrots in the larder, I rarely eat them or cook them for us. I tried mashed carrots and I found it a bit too sweet for a savoury dish. As for our favourite way to eat carrots – carrot cake – it’s not exactly healthy. Hoping that hasselback carrots will change the way we see carrots, I made this in the weekend. They were really lovely. I will make these again, without any doubt.

There are a few recipes of hassleback carrots out there, some with carrots being pre-boiled, others with the carrots put raw in the oven. The pre-boiled version seems a bit more complicated, but I wanted to make them like this because it was easier to cut them in nice equal slices. They do take a lot of time to bake, but that is not an issue if you bake something else too. I baked some potatoes, less than usual because we had the carrots too, and some vegan fish-cakes.

Hasselback carrots. Ingredients for 2 servings:

– 4 carrots
– 2 spoons of oil
– paprika
– smoked paprika
– smoked salt (use regular salt if you don’t have smoked)
– black pepper

Start by boiling 1l of water in the kettle. Meanwhile, wash and peel the carrots or clean them by scrapping the exterior with a knife. I prefer to scrape them as it takes less time.

Pre-heat the oven at 200C or 180C for fan assisted ovens.

Boil the carrots for 10 minutes. Drain and cool them by pouring cold water over them. When they are cold enough to handle, cut the carrots making sure you don’t cut all the way through, at an angle. I like how hassleback looks with the cuts at an angle, but that is a personal preference.

In a small bowl, pour the oil and add the spices. Mix with a teaspoon and pour the oil over the carrots. After the carrots are covered with oil, pour a bit of water, a few spoons, in the bowl and mix. Pour the oil mix into the pan, so the carrots will not stick to it.

Put the carrots in the oven and leave them to bake for 35 to 40 minutes. They will still have a bit of a crunch to them, but they will be baked.

Enjoy your hasselback carrots as a side dish and remember that each one of these counts as 1 towards your 5-a-day.