Carrot Purée with Star Anise

Carrot Purée is the new hottest side dish that will wow everyone. It's lovely for the holiday season -- especially Thanksgiving, and it's excellent with all sorts of dishes. This silky smooth version is infused with delicious star anise, it's easy to make, and it's even better when made ahead!

This Carrot Purée recipe is inspired by from an incredible dinner I had at Greenes restaurant in Cork, Ireland. For a rather simple side, it was seriously mind blowing, and I knew I'd be recreating it.

As a professional chef and recipe developer, I can't help but ask questions about dishes I flip for in restaurants. In this case, I asked about the spice because it's was so interesting and lured me in, bite after bite. The "secret" was Star Anise.

After a lot of recipe testing, I nailed it with a combination of only 3 key ingredients! Now tried and true, you'll get beautiful results every time you make it.

This silky Carrot Purée with Star Anise is lovely on a holiday table, as well as beneath grilled steak, seared fish and spicy sautéed chicken.

And guess what!? This already super delicious recipe is even better when you make it ahead of time!

Jump to:

• The Ingredients
• How to Make Carrot Purée with Star Anise
• Making it Ahead
• Serving Suggestions
• Variation
• What is a good Star Anise Substitute?
• Other Must-Try Carrot Recipes
• Carrot Purée Recipe with Star Anise

The Ingredients

• carrots - For a recipe like this, where they'll ultimately be puréed, I try to use larger carrots, so there are fewer to peel. 😉 Look for firm, plump carrots, preferably without little roots on the bottom.
• whole Star Anise - With a subtly sweet and slight, yet distinct licorice taste, Star Anise is the pod of Evergreen trees that grow in China and Vietnam. In this recipe, I go heavy on the amount I use as the flavor is crucial to this unique puréed carrot recipe. While ground Star Anise is available, whole Star Anise pods are used here for maximum flavor as they're infused into the carrots as they cook. (If you want to use ground Star Anise, add it to taste after the carrots are puréed. See Star Anise Substitutions at the end of the post.)
• unsalted butter - Butter is what creates the silky smooth texture and it adds richness. It's the flavor and the texture that make this recipe so brilliantly delicious.

How to Make Carrot Purée with Star Anise

- Peel the carrots, and then cut them diagonally, into about about ¼ to ½-inch slices.

- Add the prepared carrots, water, Star Anise and butter to a large sauté pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and gently simmer until the carrots are very tender, about 45 minutes. A fork should very easily slide in and out of the slices.

Recipe Tip. Since the Star Anise are large, the will be easy to remove, so they can just be tossed into the water.

- Remove the lid, turn the heat up and cook off about half of the liquid, so there's only about ½-inch or so left.

- Use a small spoon to remove the Star Anise from the pan. Then add the contents of the pan to a powerful blender with the salt. Blend on high until it's super smooth. This should only take about 15 seconds on a high speed in a powerful blender.

- Season to taste if necessary and serve.

Pro Tip: Carrots are inherently a bit sweet, and like most produce, some are sweeter than others. When a dish like this is finished, taste it, and if you think it needs to be a touch sweeter, add just a pinch or two of sugar -- it will bring out more of the natural sweetness of the carrots.

Making it Ahead

While this carrot purée is excellent right after it's made, I believe it's even better the next day. And if that's not enough, it's still fantastic even when made up to 3 days in advance!

• Storing. It should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, or even in an ovenproof (or microwave safe) serving dish, covered tightly with plastic wrap.
• Reheating. To reheat it, cover with foil and place it in a preheated 350℉ just until it's hot, about 15 minutes. You can also reheat it, uncovered, in a microwave. (Heating times will vary depending on whether or not you doubled the recipe, which you might for a larger holiday dinner.)

Serving Suggestions

Carrot Purée with Star Anise pairs well with so many things! From fish and beef, to poultry and tons of vegetarian dishes. I especially like it beneath the protein. For example, I serve it under a fillet of Pan-Seared Sea Bass and Balsamic Flank Steak. Both are incredible. And below are a handful of other dishes it's great with:

• Potato Moussaka
• Spinach Ricotta Phyllo Rolls
• Smoky Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey
• Show-Stopping Holiday Stuffed Pork Loin
• Chilean Sea Bass (Seared with Lemon and Capers)

Variation

Vegan version. If want to make this a vegan recipe, omit the butter, and when you add the carrots to the water, with the Star Anise, add ½ cup peeled and roughly chopped potato and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. This will not be as rich, and won't have the same silky quality it does with butter -- but, it'll be smooth and still very good!

What is a good Star Anise Substitute?

This recipe is intended to be made as it's written, so I only recommend this if you can't get Star Anise. Listed below are a few spices you can use as a substitution that will still make a very tasty combination.

• Chinese Five Spice Powder - Since this is a powder, add it to taste after the carrots are puréed.
• Anise or Fennel seeds - These are both tiny seeds, so they should go in a boquet garni bag during the cooking process, so they can be easily removed. Use about 1 generous tablespoon.
• Cloves - For ground cloves, add them to taste after the carrots are puréed, and use a boquet garni for whole cloves (about 2 tablespoons).
• You can use this seasoning guide for adding ground spices to taste, and you can reference my maple brine recipe for how to use a boquet garni.

Other Must-Try Carrot Recipes

Enjoy, and I hope you find this dish as dreamy as I do!