Ingredients

•   carrots, baby carrots left whole or split lengthways, or larger carrots sliced to 5mm thick or cut into matchsticks
•   sugar
•   butter
• juice of ½ lemon, juiced
•   salt
•   black pepper
• a few sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, picked and torn

Method

1. Prepare the carrots: baby carrots can be split lengthways or left whole with the stalk on top. If baby carrots aren't available, larger ones can be sliced to 5mm (¼in) thick or cut into matchsticks.
2. Barely cover the carrots with water. Add a pinch of salt, the sugar and half the butter and cover with 'butter paper' (wrappings from blocks of butter) or greaseproof paper. Simmer until the carrots are just tender. This takes anything from 3 to 10 minutes, depending on size.
3. Once tender, use a slotted spoon to remove the carrots and keep to one side. This leaves 'cooking liquor' in the pan.
4. Bring the cooking liquor to the boil and reduce by three-quarters, to a syrupy consistency. Add the lemon juice and simmer for another minute. Check the flavour: a sweet lemony-carrot, almost butter sauce, is what you should have.
5. Return the carrots to the pan and reheat in the sauce. Season and add the remaining butter. Sprinkle with the torn parsley, stir and serve.

Notes