Vegetarian mains
Spicy bean and polenta wedges with chunky roasted veg and smoky tomatoes
This dish is made with quick-cook polenta as opposed to the normal polenta that takes up to 45 mins to cook. It's great for a speedy supper, and also if you want to make harder polenta for frying and baking, as here. This recipe yields quite a generous portion; any remaining polenta can be reheated, or eaten at room temperature as part of a lunchbox leftovers meal.
Cook's notes
To line your bowl, dampen the paper with cold water then scrunch it up and unfurl, it will be much more malleable. Use just half the chilli if you prefer less heat.
Ingredients
- 2 red onions
- oil for greasing and frying, eg sunflower or light olive
- 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
- 1 courgette
- 1 red pepper
- 250g cherry tomatoes
- 1 chilli
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp dried coriander leaves
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 1 tin of red kidney beans
- 100g instant polenta
- 75g Cheddar - you have a 100g bag to share with recipe 3
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 50g salad leaves
- 30g parsley – use ½
- 1 pot of soured cream
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Preheat your oven to 210°C/Gas 5. Peel and finely dice 1 red onion. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add the onion. Fry on a low heat for 8 minutes, until softened. Stir now and then, adding a splash of water if it looks like catching at any point.
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Step 2
Meanwhile, peel and finely chop or crush the garlic. Wash and chop the courgette and pepper into 2cm dice. Cut the tomatoes in half, crossways. Peel and dice the other red onion into 2cm dice. Halve the chilli, deseed, then finely dice. After 8 minutes, add the garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander and dried coriander leaf to the cooking onion. Stir for 2 minutes. In a separate pan,
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Step 3
heat the stock cube with 500ml water, stirring to help dissolve it.
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Step 4
While the water is heating up, drain the kidney beans into a colander. Grease a small round dish (a shallow pasta bowl or large cereal bowl is ideal) with a little oil. Line it with greaseproof paper (see cook's note). When the stock is hot, gradually
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Step 5
pour in the polenta and stir constantly until combined, then continue stirring for about 4-5 minutes, until the mixture comes away from the side of the pan. Take care the bottom doesn't catch. Remove from the heat.
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Step 6
Stir in the onion mixture, 75g cheddar (three quarters of the bag supplied), kidney beans and season with salt and pepper. Spoon into the lined bowl, pressing it down slightly and levelling it off. Leave it to cool in the fridge for 10 minutes. Once the polenta has cooled, toss the pepper, courgette, remaining onion, cherry tomatoes, chilli, paprika, oregano and red wine vinegar in a roasting tin with just enough oil to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 5 minutes.
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Step 7
In the meantime, turn the polenta out onto your work surface, remove the paper and cut into 8 wedges. Lightly oil a non-stick baking sheet. Lay the wedges on it and brush or rub with a little oil. Bake them and the veg for a further 20 minutes or so, until the veg is just tender and the wedges starting to crisp.
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Step 8
Meanwhile, wash and drain the salad leaves. Wash half the bag of parsley and shake dry. Chop the leaves. Toss the cooked veg together with the parsley. Serve the wedges and veg with the salad leaves and a dollop of soured cream.
