Carrot Crust

As many of you may know, I’m very active on Instagram posting pictures and following others who share my interests in food and photography. The other day I came across a beautiful and intriguing picture by Farmgirl Gourmet for a pie crust made of sweet potatoes. I was hooked!

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However, as I was out of sweet potatoes and had a 5-kilo bag of carrots waiting for my attention, I swapped out the vegetables and then added a few touches of my own. I love the resulting texture and I’m going to be making more of this with other veggies…

I used my crust for a “pseudo” Moroccan bastila or pie made with lamb meat. This crust is great both for savoury and sweet dishes and especially for a quiche, like the Farmgirl Gourmet’s original recipe.

CARROT CRUST

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of grated, and squeezed* carrots
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 4 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom (optional, and I included it for the lamb bastila, for which I made the crust)

Process

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (about 350F). Prepare a springform cake tin as follows: butter the bottom and sides and line with parchment paper. The butter is used so the paper will adhere to the pan.
  2. Add some olive oil (or additional, melted butter) on top of the paper and with your hands or a paper towel, spread the oil around the parchment paper. Set aside.
  3. Peel about 6-8 large carrots. I used a hand grater to grate them. Then I squeezed the water (carrot juice) out of them and measured the “dried” results into 4 cups. (I used a dry ingredients U.S. measuring cup.)
  4. Place the grated carrots in a large bowl. Add the butter and eggs, and with your hands mix well, cutting the butter into the mixture.
  5. Add the coconut flour and spices, and knead until all is well blended.
  6. Scoop the carrot mixture into the prepared cake tin and using your hands, spread it out evenly to form a pie shell (covering the sides of the tin as well as the bottom).  
  7. Baking time depends on what you will make with the crust afterwards. I baked mine for 35 minutes and then baked it again with the filling another 25 minutes.

*I squeezed the grated carrots between my hands, eliminating as much carrot juice as possible. (I had about 1/3 cup of juice, which was delicious on its own, after grating and squeezing 4 cups of grated carrots). You can also use a cheesecloth to squeeze the liquid out of the vegetables.

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31 Comments

  1. 3.26.13
    Kimmie said:

    This also seems like a good use of carrot pulp after juicing carrots. Do you think that would work for this crust as well?

    • 3.26.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Hi Kimmie, I’m guessing it would. I have no idea how the pulp consistency or texture looks like after juicing them, but if it’s similar to grated, it should work well. Let me know if you try it that way!

  2. 3.27.13

    This looks amazing! Can you please try doing this with every veggie out there and keep us all posted on how they all turn out 🙂

    • 3.27.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      ;).. haha.. yes, that’s the intention!

  3. 3.27.13
    Missy said:

    I’m trying this with turnips! Will report back if it works 🙂

    • 3.27.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Great idea!! 😉 Please do let me know!

  4. 1.22.14
    Anna said:

    I’m diabetic and I’m always looking for new recipes, and this one sounds delicious! My only question is, I want to try to make it for Passover and I’m not sure if coconut flour is acceptable; would almond flour work instead?

    Thank you for posting these wonderful recipes and thank you in advance for any advice you give.

    • 1.22.14
      The Saffron Girl said:

      Hi Anna,
      I think almond flour could work, although I haven’t tried it and wouldn’t know exactly what measurement to suggest. However, almond flour is much more versatile than coconut, so there’s generally less of a problem in messing up the recipe. If you do give it a try, please let me know. And thank you for your sweet comments! It makes me very happy to have people use my recipes. 😉 Debra xx

  5. 4.2.15
    halina said:

    As a pizza crust in the traditional sense… FAILED. : ( Not strong enough but tastes yummy. Next time making as a pizza pie . Thank you the inspiration!!

  6. 7.15.15
    elena said:

    hello, sounds great, i used to use carrot right after juicer
    BUT i do not use butter nor eggs in my vegan diet. then what?
    oil and water or instead of water veg broth?
    pls comment for me

    • 7.15.15
      The Saffron Girl said:

      Hi Elena,

      I don’t cook or bake without eggs nor use egg replacement binders, so it’s hard for me to comment on substitutions. As for the butter, any oil should work, such as coconut or olive. Maybe give it a try without the egg and using only the oil, which will bind it together? I’m not sure what the baked results will be like though. Please let me know if you give it a try.

      Debra xx

  7. 10.22.15

    Thanks for your amazing recipe…..:)

  8. 4.30.16
    Abbey said:

    Do you use the big holes on a cheese grate to grate the carrots? Will definitely be making this tonight!

    • 4.30.16
      The Saffron Girl said:

      Hi Abbey,
      I did use the bigger holes, yes. Also, remember to thoroughly squeeze the water out of the grated carrots for the best results. (Alternatively, you could use a food processor; it’s less tedious.)
      Debra xx

  9. 7.23.15
    Patricia Pamplona said:

    What other type of flour would you recommend? I don’t have coconut flour handy, don’t feel like going to the store and I think the sweetness from the carrots will be sufficient.
    Thanks in advance!

  10. 7.23.15
    The Saffron Girl said:

    Patri,

    Coconut flour reacts very differently from other flours in how it absorbs liquids. So it’s hard to substitute. However, you could try with some arrowroot/tapioca flour or if you don’t have either and don’t mind using grains, maizena will work too. Let me know how it works out! Debra xx