Here’s a hack I tried on a whim this week, and it worked a treat. Like any new discovery, it’s a trick I’m likely to come back to with other lightweight ingredients as time goes on. For now, we’re talking about rosemary sprigs.

The fact that food is thrown around inside an air fryer by the force of the hot air blowing around inside it means we have to be inventive if we’re not to spark a fire in there. You don’t want loose rosemary sprigs to hit the element above and catch fire.

So I lifted the basket out of the machine, popped fresh rosemary sprigs underneath, and then put the basket back in, leaving them trapped and unable to be blown around and risk touching the fiery hot element.

The heat of the pot releases vapours from the rosemary needles which flavour the carrots in the basket.

If you add up the wet ingredients in this glaze, it amounts to two tablespoons. That includes oil, honey, lemon juice and the tiniest dash of soy sauce.

I used large carrots, and sliced them into quarters, then cut them in the middle to make batons. 

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

4 large carrots

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

Kalahari smoked salt

Black pepper

2 or 3 rosemary sprigs

Method

Peel and top and tail the carrots. Slice them in half, then in quarters. Cut through the middle so that you have batons. (Use the photo as a guide.)

Pour the olive oil and soy sauce into a bowl and add the honey and lemon juice, smoked salt and black pepper. Stir well.

Add the carrots and toss so that they’re well coated.

Lift the basket out of the air fryer and place the rosemary sprigs underneath so they don’t fly around and catch fire. But they will flavour the carrots above them.

Preheat the air fryer to 200℃.

Roast the carrots for about 15 minutes, for five minutes at a time, tossing after every five minutes, until they are soft in the middle and glazed outside.

Taste, and season with salt and black pepper if you think they need a little more seasoning. DM

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Writer 2023, jointly with TGIFood columnist Anna Trapido. Order his book, foodSTUFF, here

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.