Vegetables
Carrot
Καρότο · Karoto

Carrots almost never lead a Greek dish, and that is exactly what makes them worth understanding. They sit in the aromatic base of nearly every braise and stock alongside onion and celery, cut large rather than diced so they can be fished out or eaten as a piece, and their job is to add a slow sweetness that balances the acid of tomato and lemon.
There are dishes where they step forward. Anginares a la polita gives them equal billing with the artichokes and potatoes, cut into thick rounds and cooked until they hold their shape but give completely. Grated raw, they are the standard companion to shredded cabbage in a winter lahanosalata, and they go into Greek and Cypriot pickles alongside cauliflower and celery.
How they are cut matters more than the quantity. Finely diced carrot disappears into a sauce and sweetens it invisibly, which is what a meat sauce for pastitsio wants; thick batons or halved lengths stay identifiable and become part of what is served, which is what a fish soup or a boiled beef dish wants. Grating gives the fastest release of sweetness of all.
Recipes with carrot
17 recipes on the site using it.
Avgolemono SoupKotosoupa avgolemono Κοτόσουπα αυγολέμονοSoups · 1h 30m · serves 6
Baked Giant Beans in TomatoGigantes plaki Γίγαντες πλακίMain Courses · 2h 5m · serves 6
FasoladaFasolada ΦασολάδαSoups · 1h 45m · serves 6
Lentil Soup with VinegarFakes ΦακέςSoups · 1h 7m · serves 6
Meatball Soup in AvgolemonoGiouvarlakia ΓιουβαρλάκιαSoups · 1h 15m · serves 6
Cabbage and Carrot SaladLachanosalata ΛαχανοσαλάταSalads · 15m · serves 6
Chicken and Rice SoupKotosoupa avgolemono Κοτόσουπα αυγολέμονοSoups · 1h 50m · serves 6
Constantinople-Style Braised ArtichokesAnginares ala polita Αγκινάρες αλά πολίταMain Courses · 1h 20m · serves 4
Fish SoupPsarosoupa ΨαρόσουπαSoups · 1h 10m · serves 6
Orzo SoupSoupa kritharaki Σούπα κριθαράκιSoups · 40m · serves 4
Red Lentil SoupSoupa fakes kokkines Σούπα φακές κόκκινεςSoups · 40m · serves 4
Grated Carrot SaladKarotosalata ΚαροτοσαλάταSalads · 15m · serves 4
Corfu Vegetable and Pasta SoupBourou bourou Μπουρού μπουρούSoups · 55m · serves 5Get one proper Greek recipe a week
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