Carrot Tart with Pesto

This savory tart is made with carrot top pesto, roasted carrots, and topped with pistachios and pomegranate. It's vegan, gluten free and makes for a wonderful holiday appetizer!

This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. All opinions are our own.

This savory tart (or galette...whatever you'd like to call it!) is the perfect appetizer to make for Thanksgiving or any other holiday dinner! It's easy to make, packed with flavor, and tastes great warm or cold.

The crust is gluten free and vegan, but SO flaky, buttery and delicious that you'd never know! (The secret? Good quality ingredients! See more below).

We utilize leafy carrot greens in a simple vegan pesto (made with pistachios instead of pine nuts) mixed with vegan ricotta. If you can't find carrots with greens, you can use all basil instead, but otherwise, it's a great way to use the entire vegetable! We're all about reducing food waste whenever possible.

Pesto is topped with perfectly tender, slightly caramelized carrots. (Pro tip: You can use rainbow carrots for a real showstopper!)

Chopped pistachios add textural contrast, while pomegranate arils add a bright, tart punch. Fresh parsley and vegan feta are optional, but encouraged!

How to make a vegan and gluten free tart crust

You may have thought it impossible to master a flaky, buttery, delicious vegan and gluten free tart crust (that actually stays together!). We're here with proof, in the form of this tart, that it is indeed possible!

The key? Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour. It makes for the BEST gluten free crust and it's so easy to work with!

It's no secret that we LOVE Bob's Red Mill products. We use them in just about all of our baking recipes (try these cranberry crumb bars next!).

Their gluten free 1 to 1 baking flour is a staple in our house. We go through at least one bag a week! Now's the time to stock up for the holiday season, so you can make all of your favorite gluten free cookies, cakes, savory baked goods and more.

You can find many Bob's Red Mill products in thousands of retailers across the country, and you can also order online. Happy holiday baking!

Now back to the crust. Here are a few important pointers:

• Make sure your vegan butter is cold. Just like regular pie crust, this is a key step to achieving a perfectly flaky crust.
• Make sure your water is ice cold, too. Sensing a theme here? We don't want any warm ingredients, otherwise the dough will get overworked.
• Use your hands! Instead of using a food processor or electric mixer, use your hands to incorporate the butter into the gluten free flour. This should prevent you from overworking the dough.
• Refrigerate before rolling out. Don't skip this step! The crust needs about 30 minutes of chill time before rolling and baking.
• Know that the dough might split - and that's okay. When folding the dough over the carrots to form a tart crust, the dough may split. (There's no gluten to hold it together, after all!) Don't panic - just use your fingers to pinch the dough back together and smooth out any rough edges.

Filling Ingredients

Once your gluten free crust is ready to go, here's what you'll need for the filling:

• Carrots: Look for whole carrots with their greens attached, which you can repurpose for the pesto.
• Carrot top pesto: we use carrot tops in place of some of the basil in homemade pesto. They're relatively neutral in flavor, so they work perfectly!
• Vegan ricotta: this helps bulk up the pesto a bit so it doesn't leak through the crust. If you can't find any, you can leave it out.
• Pistachios: we use pistachios in our carrot top pesto in place of pine nuts, so we use some as garnish as well to bring that nutty flavor back into play.
• Vegan feta: optional, but delicious! (Of course, if you're not fully vegan, you can use regular feta).
• Pomegranate: essential for a pop of tartness. And so festive, too!

Instructions

While your tart crust is chilling, here's what you'll need to do:

Prep carrots: Wash, peel and halve your carrots lengthwise. If your carrots are large, you may need to quarter them. If they're on the small side, you can leave them whole. Just keep in mind that you'll need enough to fill the entire tart!

Roast carrots: We pre-roast the carrots for about 15 minutes so they can start getting tender before baking in the crust. Toss them with some olive oil, salt and pepper and roast until just slightly tender – they'll finish cooking when the tart goes back in the oven.

Make pesto: The pesto couldn't be easier to make. Simply add everything to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Stir in the vegan ricotta. (Note: you can also use store-bought pesto if desired!)

Assemble: Roll out the dough into a large rectangle and spread pesto on top, leaving a 1" border of space around the edges. Arrange carrots and carefully fold crust over the ends of the carrots.

Bake: Brush the crust with olive oil or nondairy milk and bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve: Garnish with chopped pistachios, pomegranate arils, parsley and vegan feta. Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!

More vegan holiday appetizer recipes:

• Vegan Cheese Ball
• Smoky Roasted Carrot Dip
• Homemade Hummus 4 Ways
• Crostini with Persimmon and Pomegranate
• Carrot Fritters with Harissa Yogurt Sauce
• Jalapeño Poppers

If you make this vegan and gluten free carrot pesto tart, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.

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