Roasted Carrot Tamales

These roasted carrot tamales are a delicious and comforting. Chef Rudy Smith, corporate chef at Unilever Food Solutions, shows us some plant-based techniques for bringing out the earthy and sweet flavor of the carrots. He makes the masa with carrot broth, fills the tamales with roasted carrots and chiles, and serves the tamales with a carrot and habañero coulis.

 
 

Yield: 30 – 40 tamales

Method

  1. For the roasted carrot filling: Toss carrots, chiles, and onions with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

  2. Roast in a 425°F oven for 30-45 minutes, or until tender. Remove and cool.

  3. Pulse in a food processor to small course consistency, and combine with chives. Adjust seasoning and reserve.

  4. For the coulis: Combine all coulis ingredients in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer until very tender.

  5. Remove the vegetables from the broth, and puree smooth using broth to adjust the consistency.

  6. For the carrot broth: Simmer carrot peelings in prepared Knorr® Liquid Concentration Vegetable Base for about 15 minutes to extract flavor. Strain, reserving the broth, and discarding the peels.

  7. For the masa dough: In a stand mixer, beat shortening with about 2 tablespoons of carrot broth until fluffy.

  8. In another mixing bowl, combine masa harina, baking powder and salt.

  9. Add the masa mixture to the shortening, and mix to form a soft dough.

  10. Add additional broth as needed to make dough that has the consistency of a soft paste. Cover and set aside.

  11. For the tamales: Place corn husk on work surface with the shiny side up. Spread about ¼ cup masa dough on husk, about ¼-inch thick. Place 1 -2 tablespoons roasted carrot filling into the center of the dough. Roll up and tie the tamales. Repeat until all corn husks are filled and tied. 

  12. Steam the tamales for 45 minutes to an hour. To check to see if the tamales are done, unroll one and see if the masa still sticks to the husk. If it does, cook an additional 15 minutes. If it releases, it is cooked.

  13. For assembly: Cover the bottom of serving plate with about 3 oz. hot coulis and drizzle with crema. Remove tamale from husk and place in center of coulis, and top with micro greens.

    Source: Chef Rudy Smith from Unilever Food Solutions. Published with permission of the author. All rights reserved.

Ingredients

For the roasted carrot filling

2 lb. heirloom carrots, peeled and large diced (reserve peelings for carrot broth)

4-6 ea. serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed

1 ea. white onion, peeled and quartered

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

For the coulis

2 lb. carrots, peeled and diced (reserve peelings for carrot broth)

2- 3 ea. habañero chiles, stems and seeds removed, diced

1½ quarts Knorr® Professional Caldo de Vegetales, prepared

2 tsp. oregano

as needed, salt

as needed, pepper

For the carrot broth

Carrot peelings, all scraps from steps above

2 quarts Knorr® Professional Caldo de Vegetales, prepared

For the masa dough

1½ cups vegetable shortening

3 ½ cups carrot broth (recipe above)                    

4 cups masa harina                                               

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

For the tamales

30-40 ea. corn husks, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes                                

1 recipe masa dough (recipe above)                       

1 recipe filling (recipe above)

 

For assembly

½ oz. crema

2 Tbsp. micro greens

This recipe and video were produced by The Culinary Institute of America as an industry service,
thanks to the generous support of Unilever Food Solutions.