Category: polenta

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parma ham parmesan polenta

parmesan and parma ham polenta cakes

parmesan and parma ham polenta cakes

I was forwarded this recipe by Riona Mary PR and invited to give them a go as a Mother’s Day treat. These lovely little scones are packed with briliant ingredients, making great use of PDO (Protected Destination of Origin) products. I’m a fan of local produce but if you’re going to import why not use the very best produce that can only be made in a certain way to a consistent level of quality? I adore Italian cuisine, and revel in any chance to use Parmesan Reggiano and Parma ham.

You can read more about PDO products at the Discover the Origin website.

I made some cakes for my Mum, and they went down a treat. They’re very savoury, almost scone-like, and give little bursts of different flavours in every mouthful. Give them a try and treat someone in your life!

You can see a video of Lesley Waters making them here.

Parmesan and Parma ham polenta cakes (makes 8):

175g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

115g instant polenta

75g Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated

200ml milk

2 medium eggs

90g Parma ham, finely chopped

85g sunblush tomatoes, drained, finely chopped

300ml crème fraiche

  1. Preheat the oven to 190C, Gas 5. Lightly grease 8 deep muffin tins.
  2. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the polenta and 55g of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Season well with freshly ground black pepper.
  3. In a measuring jug mix together the milk, eggs, Parma ham and sunblush tomatoes.
  4. Fold the wet ingredients into the dried taking care not to over mix.
  5. Spoon the mixture evenly between the prepared muffin wells. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes until golden. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano with the crème fraiche and set to one side.
  6. Allow the Parma ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese polenta cakes to cool in the tin for 2 minutes. Carefully, with a flat bladed knife remove from muffin wells.
  7. Cut each cake whilst still warm in half on the diagonal. Fill each with a little of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cream.
Categories
courgettes polenta prosciutto sage turkey veal

saltimbocca with courgette fries

This post is dedicated to Laissez Fare.

Twitter friend and all-round good egg Laissez Fare was upping sticks and moving back to his homeland, USA. He was throwing a party but wouldn’t you know it, it was during my only week’s holiday of the year. So we managed to arrange a separate lunch where we could chat, eat and give him a little send-off. Using his wiles he’d booked us a table at the titchy-but-perfectly-formed Polpetto.

We had a lovely meal and sampled many dishes – including a £7.50 sandwich I couldn’t ignore. Ironically the disappointment was the polpetti, which tasted only of the fennel marinade they were in. However lots of them were top drawer, such as the pigeon saltimbocca cooked to a perfect purple-pink with fragrant sage, and finely-sliced zucchini fries with a light tempura-style crunch. I enjoyed these so much I attempted to recreate them later that week at home.

I happened to have some turkey and veal hanging around the freezer so chose those over the pigeon version, and made one each of those. They were great, yet surprisingly the turkey version was more interesting than the veal. And the courgette fries were equally tasty. I had the oil a touch too hot at the start, but once it calmed down the fries were much more consistent. I was very pleased with the results.

If you’re in the Leicester Square area, forego those touristy places and try to grab a seat at Polpetto – tasty food, kind and informal service and very reasonable prices. +1 for the non-matching crockery too.

Saltimbocca with courgette fries:

For the saltimbocca:

4 breasts of turkey or veal

4 slices of prosciutto

4 sage leaves

100ml beef stock

For the fries:

2 courgettes, diced to approx 4mm matchsticks

100g plain flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon honey

200ml carbonated water

Vegetable oil (or similar) for deep-frying

  1. First make the batter. Stir the flour, baking powder and honey together with a pinch of sugar and whisk in the water. Clingfilm and pop in the fridge for half an hour. (This will ‘set’ the batter and hold the bubbles in place).
  2. Place the breasts between two pieces of clingfilm and pound until it’s about half a centimetre thick. Discard the clingfilm, place a sage leaf on each breast, season and wrap in a slice of prosciutto.
  3. Get a frying pan to a medium heat and add a little oil. Fry the saltimbocca for 7 – 8 minutes until cooked through, and put to one side to rest. Add the stock to the pan and boil hard to reduce and get the good stuff off the pan.
  4. Bring enough oil to fill 2/3 of a pan to 190°C. Dip the courgette in the batter, shake off the excess and deep-fry in batches. They will only take 45 seconds – 1 minute to cook and turn light brown. Put to kitchen paper to drain and toss over some sea salt.
  5. Serve the saltimbocca on soft polenta, pouring the pan juice / stock over.
Categories
carrots chestnuts chorizo leftovers marsala paprika peppers polenta pork

pork and chestnut casserole with fried polenta

A real pot of leftovers, this one. Tons of stuff in the cupboard, fridge and freezer that all needed using up. Leave it in the casserole, come back hours later… lovely.

Pork and chestnut casserole:

500g pork shoulder, chopped

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, sliced

2 carrots, diced

2 courgettes, diced

100ml marsala wine

1 teaspoon paprika

2 sprigs rosemary

50g chorizo

250g cooked chestnuts

2 tins tomatoes

500ml chicken stock

For the polenta:

100g quick-cook polenta

400ml vegetable stock

5 dried wild mushrooms

  1. Preheat the oven to 140°C.
  2. In a large casserole, fry the pork in batches until browned. Remove to one side while you gently fry the onions and garlic in the same pan.
  3. When softened, turn the heat up, add the marsala wine and bubble furiously. When the wine has reduced, add the pork, carrot, courgette and paprika and give a ruddy good stir. Throw in the rosemary, chestnuts, chorizo, tomatoes and stock and stir thoroughly. Pop the lid on and leave in the oven for three hours. Check on it from time to time and add hot water if necessary.
  4. For the polenta, first grind the mushrooms to a powder in a pestle and mortar. Get the stock to the boil in a saucepan and gradually add the polenta and mushroom dust in a steady stream, whisking all the time. Continue stirring for another two minutes and turn on to a cold plate.
  5. When cool, cut the polenta into pieces and fry until browned and crisp. Serve with the casserole, drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
Categories
beef food polenta

mince patties with a polenta crust

This wasn’t something I saw on TV. This wasn’t a recipe I copied from a fellow blogger. No, Google made me cook this.

I was thumbing through my Webmaster Tools (if you’re a blogger or website owner and you don’t use this you’re mad – it’s so fascinating and can tell you a lot of things about what visitors you get and why) and one of the search terms was “mince patties with polenta”. A lightbulb went off in my head, what a brilliant idea given how in love I am with polenta at the moment.

It turned out jolly nice, especially partnered with a fruity tomato sauce. And best of all can be changed dead easily depending on what’s in the cupboard.

Mince patties with a polenta crust:

For the patties:

300g beef mince

1 tablespoon lemon, olive and herb rub

1 tablespoon basil, finely chopped

1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

4 tablespoons fine polenta

For the tomato sauce:

1 onion, finely diced

1 clove of garlic, sliced

1 tin tomatoes

200ml vegetable stock

200g broad beans

Few basil leaves, torn up

  1. Combine the mince with the herbs and rub and season well. Form into burger shapes and refrigerate for half an hour (this helps them stay together when cooking).
  2. To make the tomato sauce, fry the onion in garlic gently for 10 minutes in a little oil until softened. Add the tomatoes and stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Five minutes before the end cook the broad beans in water until tender and then add to the sauce, stirring through. Check for seasoning – it may need sugar and vinegar to get the balance right. Add the basil at the last minute.
  3. To finish the patties, spread the polenta out over a plate. Dip the patties in beaten egg and then coat thoroughly in polenta. Fry gently for 5 minutes on each side until browned. Drain on kitchen paper before serving.
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