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UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS’ CARR GNOCCHI TAKES LOCAL PROCUREME TO THE NEXT LEVEL
LOCALLY SOURCED: CARROTS SOURCED FROM THE SCHOOL’S HYDROPONIC FREIGHT FARM ARE UTILIZED THREE DIFFERENT WAYS IN THE DISH.
J ust behind the University of North Texas’ Mean Greens Cafe lies a large hydroponic freight farm that is able to provide hundreds of lbs. of produce for the school’s five dining halls. When Mean Green Acres first opened its doors in 2016, the team mostly stuck with growing different varieties of leafy greens and herbs. Recently, however, they’ve been experimenting with what else they could grow. One of the newest additions to the farm has been carrots. Execu- tive Chef Cris Williams was able to transform the ingredient into a BY BENITA GINGERELLA
carrot gnocchi that was added to the menu at Mean Greens Cafe, the school’s 100% vegan dining hall, this semester. “We make a couple different gn- occhi here, like a sweet potato gnoc- chi and a traditional potato gnocchi, and I just thought it would be kind of fun to do the same thing with car- rots,” says Williams. UTILIZING THE WHOLE CARROT Carrot fans will rejoice upon learn- ing that the vegetable is incorpo- rated into every aspect of the dish, including its two sauces— a carrot carbonara and a carrot top pesto. The gnocchi dough is formed by first peeling the carrots and turn-
ing them into a puree. The puree is then transformed into a dough by mixing it with almond flour, plant- based ricotta and a couple of other ingredients. After the dough is cut into the classic gnocchi shape, it is par-cooked and then pan fried. The carbonara sauce is made us- ing coconut milk and, you guessed it, carrots, which act as a substitute for the guanciale (a type of cured pork) that is traditionally included in the dish. “We make a seasoning that goes with [the carrots] and kind of mim- ics the flavors of bacon,” says Wil- liams. For the pesto, the carrot tops are mixed with cashews and two dif- ferent types of basil also grown at
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF AHNA HUBNIK
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