Deep-fried polenta

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Ingredients

1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup cream
62 ½ g salted butter
125 g Woolworths polenta
25 g Dalewood Huguenot cheese, grated
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
flour, for dusting
oil, for frying
For the velouté
2 T canola oil
½ onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine (we use De Meye barrel-fermented Chenin Blanc)
2 cups vegetable stock
½ raw peeled potato, diced
250 ml whipping cream
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For serving:
⅓ cup broad beans
1 t basil, finely chopped
2 t flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 t dill, roughly chopped
1 t chives, finely chopped
100 g Dalewood Boland cheese

Cooking Instructions

1. Make the polenta the day before you want to serve the dish. In a large saucepan, bring half the vegetable stock, all the cream and butter to a boil. Add the polenta and whisk until smooth. If too thick, adjust the consistency using the remaining stock.

2. Cook until the polenta is thick and creamy. Remove the pan from the heat, add the cheese and season to taste. Using a stick blender, blend the polenta (while hot) for a couple of minutes until smooth and creamy.

3. Pour the polenta into a square or rectangular container (around 20 x 30 cm and 5 cm deep) and set in the fridge overnight.

4. To make the velouté, heat the canola oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion and garlic over a low heat, do not allow no colour. Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Add the vegetable stock and potato and cook uncovered for 10 minutes over a medium heat and reduce by a third.

5. Add the cream and cook over a medium heat uncovered and reduce by a third once again. Remove the pan from the heat. Blend until smooth and season to taste.

6. Remove the broad beans from the pods and blanch for 1 minute, then put into an ice bath. Remove the skins from the beans and discard.

7. Blanch the Brussels sprouts for 3 minutes, then place in an ice bath. Drain and set aside.

8. Slice the cheese using a rotary cheese curler (traditionally used for Tete de Moine cheese), or cut thin slivers using a grater.

9. When you’re ready to serve the dish, make the deep-fried polenta. Cut it into cubes (5 x 5 x 5cm) and dust in cake flour. Deep-fry the polenta cubes in the oil at 200°C until golden brown.

10. To assemble, bring 1 cup velouté to a boil in a saucepan. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add 1/4 cup broad beans, 1/3 cup Brussels sprouts and the fresh herbs, to taste.

11. To serve, place the polenta cubes in a large, deep dish, pour over the white wine velouté, vegetables-and-herb mixture and garnish with the Boland cheese curls.

Cook’s note: This recipe was developed by Brendan Thorncroft and Leigh Williamson of The Table at De Meye in Stellenbosch and was featured in our October 2020 issue after a member of our team tasted it and was blown away. If you’d like to make it outside broad bean season, replace them with sugar snap peas, asparagus, fine green beans or baby marrows.

Find more polenta recipes here.