Mediterranean Carrot Rolls - a delicious starter or fabulous canape

MEDITERRANEAN CARROT ROLLS

You wouldn't think that you could turn the humble carrot into a sophisticated canapé or starter, and I can tell from the look on our guests faces when I say 'here you go, some Mediterranean Carrot rolls,' that they think the same.......that is until they try one!!!  Everyone we have served these to has loved them/wanted more/asked for the recipe. 

The original recipe is from Antony Worrall Thompson's 'A-Z of AWT.'  You can play around with all the herbs and other seasonings too.  I like a bit of cayenne and cumin, to cut through some of those sweeter ingredients.  This goes really well with a bit of salad and some tzatziki (that's a sauce made from cucumber, yoghurt, mint and garlic.)

Stu always groans when I say we are going to make these, they are a little labour intensive but trust me when I say well worth it!  The thing is that I normally ask him to do the rolling into little sausages and, as I've normally multiplied the recipe by 4 so I can freeze a load down.  I guess I can appreciate his frustration! 

With the method, I cannot emphasize enough how dry the carrots need to be after cooking them.  I would suggest putting them back on a really low heat after you have drained them to steam off any excess liquid.  And even after that, I would blot them on a load of kitchen towel.  You could also leave them spread out on a tray lined with kitchen towel in the fridge overnight.
 
Makes about 30 small sausages for canapés, or 8-10 larger ones for a starter

Ingredients

·       10 medium carrots peeled, chopped and cooked until very soft, then very well drained

·       2 slices white bread rubbed into crumbs

·       6 dried apricots, finely chopped

·       2 tspn sultanas finely chopped

·       4 spring onions, finely diced

·       2 tbspn pine nuts, chopped

·       2 garlic cloves finely chopped

·       2 tspn finely grated orange zest

·       1 egg

·       6 tbspn mixed chopped parsley, mint and dill

·       Plain flour for dusting

·       Vegetable oil for shallow frying

Method

·       Mash the carrots, if they seem really wet still, blot on a load of kitchen paper

·       In a bowl, mix with the remaining ingredients apart from the flour and oil.  If it’s still quite damp, add a few more breadcrumbs.  You want to be able to form small sausages easily

·       Mould the mixture into small sausages or patties, using the flour to coat your hands to prevent sticking

·       Roll each piece in flour, tapping off any excess

·       Heat a frying pan with some vegetable oil and shallow fry the rolls on all sides until golden brown, then blot on some kitchen towel

·       Arrange on a plate and serve warm with some yogurt dip