Ingredients:
130ml orange juice
60ml red wine
50g honey (or if cooking vegan, use 1 teaspoon of vegan friendly sugar or 40g of Fruit Syrup - see Tips and note below)
2 cinnamon sticks
4 star anise
1 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1kg carrots, peeled and cut into slices 1 cm thick
90ml olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
450g podded peas, fresh or frozen
75g lamb's lettuce
Serves 6
If you are cooking vegan, ensure your sugar does is not refined using bone char (see Tips). Choose an organic or beet sugar that is vegan friendly, or substitute the sugar with a vegan friendly syrup like Sweet Freedom Fruit Syrup or Lyle's Dessert Syrup. 1 tablespoon of syrup should be sweet enough to equate to 2 tablespoons of sugar, but adjust to your taste.
Instructions:
Make the sweet sauce for roasting the carrots - pour the orange juice, wine and honey into a saucepan, add the cinnamon and star anise and bring to the boil. Cook gently, uncovered, for 20-40 minutes (depending on the size of your pan and the heat level). Cook until reduced until about a third. Set aside.
Pre-heat the oven to 250C or 230C (fan)/ Gas Mark 9. Heat a small frying pan, add the coriander seeds and ry toast them over a high heat for about 3 minutes. Put the seeds in a bowl and mix with the carrots, olive oil, garlic, and some salt and pepper. Spread the mixture out on a large baking tray and put in the oven. After about 15 minutes (the carrots should be coloured by now), remove the tray and add the sweet sauce (including the cinnamon and star anise). Stir well and return to the oven for about 7 minutes, until the carrots are cooked through but still al dente. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool down.
Throw the peas into a pot of boiling salted water and cook for a minute. Drain at once in a colander, run under a cold tap, to stop the cooking and drain thoroughly.
Before serving, stir the carrots and peas gently. Taste and add more seasoning as required. Mix the lambs lettuce through it, before serving.
Inspired by Ottolenghi, The Cookbook