Carrots have figured rather heavily in my diet as of late. You see, we reside atop a small supermarket, Tesco, and whilst we refuse to shop there for most items, they frequently reduce items that are going out of date, to 10 per cent of their original price – very frugal. Of course, the food they reduce is never actually past its best, let alone going off, so we consider it best to minimise waste wherever possible, even if it means foregoing local businesses – but I digress. It just so happens that we’ve recently encountered a spate of reduced carrots, an occurrence which has both enabled me to further my experimentation with the carrot and coriander combination and threatened me with a rather intriguing hue, rather like that of someone who indulges in a little too much fake tanning. Still, carrots are exceptionally good for you, with the upshot being that I no longer require the presence of any light at all in order to see clearly.

This recipe has quickly become one of my firm favourites. It is adapted from an idea given to me by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, though sadly not in person. In my eyes, carrot hummus is preferential to one’s average hummus – there’s just something about roasted carrots that have an edge over chickpeas. Indeed, the sweetness of the carrot and the slight caramelisation of its natural sugars through the process of roasting expertly succeeded in captivating my taste-buds.

If you’re at all interested in reading my other recipes that make use of the carrot and coriander combination, click for my carrot and coriander soup and my carrot and coriander fritters!

Carrot Hummus

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 300g carrots, peeled and chopped

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 2 tsp peanut butter

• 2 tsp freshly ground coriander

• A small handful of fresh coriander

• 1 tsp chilli flakes

• 1 lemon, juice of

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• Salt

• Pepper

Method:

1. Pop the carrots and garlic cloves onto a roasting tin, drizzle with oil, season and roast for 20-30 minutes – until just beginning to brown.

2. Toast the coriander seeds before bashing them up a bit. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of their skins. Transfer everything to a food processor, adding the olive oil 1 tbsp at a time until you’ve achieved the desired consistency. Serve with pita breads.

Cost: My carrots cost 10 pence a bag, which is incredible. However, I have to assume that yours didn’t – in light of that assumption my estimate for this hummus would be £1.30, which, as it happens, is exactly the same price as the original recipe! Not only am I frugal, my frugality is consistent!