Shaved Carrot Ricotta Tart

Piles of colorful carrot ribbons are tossed in a citrusy-cumin dressing and baked on top of a bright and tangy ricotta mixture that’s spread on a spiced and flaky crust for a deliciously showstopping tart!

I’m sharing this tart cause it’s winter and I crave carbs and it goes like this: I try to make ‘em healthy cause that’s just what makes my body feel good, hence the piles and piles and colorfully nourishing carrots. The ricotta cause cheese makes life better thinks me. Cumin cause that just how my carrots generally roll, and I think they’re a match made in heaven (and I hope to find a partnership someday that’s as complimentary as the cumin-carrot situation. Not sure if I’d be the cumin or the carrot in the relationship…). And of course, bright lemon and some more herbs n’spices cause I’m a more is more kinda gal. And always wants fresh herbs and a touch of brightness and love lots of flavor in my food!

And I’m apparently doing a research study on just how many carrot-ricotta-tart recipes one can have on their blog cause I already got one made with puff pastry and lots of eggs that taste drastically differently (really!!!!).

Why this Recipe Works

• The perfect reason to eat a tart as a meal! When it’s winter and ya craving carbs and cheese but you wanna be healthy too this tart is for you!
• All the flavors! The creamy, tangy ricotta, the earthy, warm cumin, the sweet-savory carrots and the brightness of the lemon ensures we’ll have a full-of-flavor tart.
• Eat your colors! Cause it’s healthy and this tart looks like edible art.
• Multi-use recipe: brunch, lunch, dinner, snack, appetizer… this tart works just as well in any sort of savory situation.

This recipe is inspired by this Saveur tart and I’d love to share what I changed. I used my go to dough recipe, which I’ve been using for years ever since I read it on Bon Appetit, which uses egg instead of ice water in the dough. I’ve found that using egg makes handling and rolling out the dough much easier for me. But it’s a new year and new decade and I’m ready to re-dough experiment all over again. I swapped out some of the spices cause off my carrot-cumin love affair situation and the lemon for blood orange cause I’m all about taking advantage of these beauties during their season though any citrus can work here. And used other herbs for topping, chervil is pictured here though parsley works as well, and I've never tried tarragon but think that would be yummy too. And that’s about it.

How to Make this Recipe

Plan in advance to make the dough so it has time to chill. Or buy pre-made dough I won’t tell. But you’ll miss out on having cumin and pepper flakes in it, which looks at tastes amazing! Shave your carrots. It’s a small labor of love and I think of this time as meditating. I actually thought I sucked at mediating but then I just realized I’m more of a movement meditating gal, cause what I actually suck at is sitting still. So, I use the mindless tasks in the kitchen, like shredding my carrots, as a kinda movement meditation situation. Anyhow this tart works just as well if ya meditate or not whole shaving your carrots. Place all the ricotta mixture ingredients in the food processor to blend (or use lots of elbow grease if you don’t have one). Par-bake dough. Spread ricotta mixture over it. Add carrots. This is the part where ya get to be a carrot artist if you’d so like (which I like a lot!!!!). Want an ombre situating? A color block situation? A mix-all-the-colors-together situation? You decide! Bake. Sprinkle with herbs and flaky sea salt. Enjoy!

Colors of Carrots

I LOVE my colors of carrots!!!

But please note that this tart will obvi work with just 1 color of carrot too. Supposedly there’s a slight subtle variation in the flavors of different carrot colors but my carrot palate is not developed enough to taste it. It’s def more of an aesthetic thang for me. I derive LOTS of joy from the shaved rainbow carrot situation of this tart!

Cooks Tips

• If using pre-made dough, remember to let it thaw out before trying to roll it out.
• If making your own dough, remember to let it chill for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled or freeze up to 1 month.
• Remember to zest your citrus before you juice it!
• Different colors of carrots aren’t necessary but *highly* recommended for atheistic purposes.
• Other spices will work wonderfully in the carrot mixture too, such as coriander, caraway and sumac, so feel free to get playful and experiment. Same for the herbs on top!

More Colorful Carrot Recipes

If you’re looking for more carrot inspiration, check out these rainbow carrots and colorful carrot recipes.

• Carrot Hummus - a bright carrot hummus that works wonderfully with every color of the carrot rainbow.
• Roasted Carrots –  high heat until they caramelize.
• Roasted Carrot Tart – savory carrot puff pastry with tangy goat cheese, creamy ricotta, spinach and fresh herbs.
• Spring Pea & Carrot Salad -  crunchy fresh veggies, garlicky homemade croutons, tangy feta and herbaceous pesto create a salad full of spring flavor.

If yaou’ve tried this recipe, I'd love to hear about it — leave a comment below and let me know, and tag me on IG, @danielagerson, so I can see too!

If you enjoyed this recipe, explore more seasonal recipes and colorful produce guides here on the site — there’s plenty more inspiration waiting for you.

Let’s make waves in the kitchen.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Carrot Ricotta Tart

Piles of colorful carrot ribbons are tossed in a citrusy-cumin dressing and baked on top of a bright and tangy ricotta mixture that’s spread on a spiced and flaky crust for a deliciously showstopping tart!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Chill time for Dough2 hours hrs

Course: Appetizer, Entree, Side Dish

Cuisine: Californian

Servings: 8

Author: Daniela Gerson

Ingredients

For the dough

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour plus more for surface
• 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter cut into pieces
• 1 large egg beaten to blend

For the Carrot-Ricotta topping

• 2 cups ricotta
• 1 ⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more as needed
• Kosher salt
• 10 medium carrots preferably a mix of colors, with the green tops cut off and reserved
• ½ cup of freshly squeezed blood orange juice or any other citrus such as lemons, oranges, or limes
• 1/8 teaspoon of finely grated blood orange zest or zest of whichever type of citrus you are using
• 2 tablespoons of cumin
• Herbs for topping such as cilantro, chervil or parsley
• Flaky sea salt to finish

Instructions

For the Dough

• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade, combine the sugar, salt, flour and butter and process with 3-4 pulses. With the motor running, slowly add the beat egg. Continue processing until the dough all comes together and forms a ball.
• Form dough into a disk with your hands. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, at least 2 hours.

For the Carrot-Ricota

• topping, clean out the bowl of the food processor and add the ricotta, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 2 generous pinches salt, and the blood orange or other citrus zest, and process until very smooth (if needed for smoothness, add an additional tablespoon olive oil). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Shave the carrots into thick ribbons using a vegetable peeler and set aside (if using various colors of carrots, keep the colors separate from one another).
• In a large bowl, whisk the blood orange (or other citrus) juice, cumin, remaining 6 tablespoons oil, and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
• Set a rack in the top third of the oven and preheat to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a floured surface, roll out dough into a thin 11x16-inch rectangle. Use a paring knife to trim neat ends if desired. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and chill 10 minutes. Remove and spread the ricotta mixture over the crust, leaving a 1⁄2-inch border. Using a pastry brush, brush the border lightly with olive oil.
• Add the carrots in batches (or by individual color) to the bowl of dressing; tossing to coat. Squeeze the carrots lightly to release any excess dressing back into the bowl. Pile the carrots atop the ricotta (if doing an ombré design, overlap the colors slightly). Reserve any remaining dressing.
• Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until the crust is golden brown, 30–35 minutes. Remove; drizzle the carrots with the reserved dressing. Sprinkle with carrot top leaves, fresh herbs and flaky salt. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

• If using pre-made dough, remember to let it thaw out before trying to roll it out.
• If making your own dough, remember to let it chill for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled or freeze up to 1 month.
• Remember to zest your citrus before you juice it!
• Different colors of carrots aren’t necessary but *highly* recommended for atheistic purposes.
• Other spices will work wonderfully in the carrot mixture too, such as coriander, caraway and sumac, so feel free to get playful and experiment. Same for the herbs on top!