Mushroom and Herb Polenta (vegan)

Recipe slightly adapted (veganised) from 'Plenty' by Yotam Ottolenghi

"When cooking polenta my father always makes much more than he needs. Half of it he serves straight away in the runny state with a flavoursome sauce. The rest he spreads on an oiled surface and allows it to set. Then next day, he cuts out chunks, fries them in olive oil, and serves with a chunky vegetable salad (tomato, cucumber, cos lettuce) dressed lightly with red wine vinegar and olive oil. The dish here uses soft polenta but you may wish to double the quantity to follow my father's idea."

Serves 2

4 Tbsp of olive oil
350g mixed mushrooms, large ones halved
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp chopped tarragon
1 Tbsp chopped thyme
1 Tbsp truffle oil (if you have it)
500ml vegetable stock
80g polenta (instant or traditional)
80 g vegan parmesan*
30 g vegan butter or olive oil
1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary
1 Tbsp chopped chervil
100g decent vegan melting cheese (if available, or skip), cut into 1cm slices
salt and black pepper

Method
Heat up half the olive oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, add half the mushrooms and fry for a few minutes, or until just cooked; try not to move them much to allow them can develop golden brown patches on their surface. Remove from the pan, and repeat with the rest of the mushrooms and oil.

Off the heat, return all the mushrooms to the pan and add the garlic, tarragon, thyme, truffle oil and some salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan. Slowly stir in the polenta, then reduce heat to the minimum and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. The polenta is ready when it leaves the sides of the pan but is still runny. If you are using instant polenta, this shouldn't take more than five minutes. With traditional polenta it could take up to 50 minutes (if it seems to dry out add some more stock or water but just enough to keep it at a thick porridge consistency).

Preheat the grill to high. When the polenta is ready, stir in the vegan parmesan, butter/oil, rosemary and half the chervil. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the polenta over a heatproof dish and top with the vegan cheese, if using. Place under till cheese bubbles / things look golden, not burnt. Remove. Top with the mushrooms and their juices and return to the grill for a minute to warm up. Serve hot, garnished with the remaining chervil.

Leek Fritters

This recipe comes from a wonderful recipe book I bought recently - Yotam Ottolenghi's 'Plenty'. I love this book! The writer is a chef whose restaurants are famous for their fresh and original salads and vegetable dishes. Although the restaurants are not vegetarian, this recipe collection IS, which trills me so. The Guardian commissioned him to write a column on vegetarian cooking on the basis of his knowledge of fresh produce and how to treat it which he attributes to his family's recipes and the farmers markets in Israel where he grew up. The recipes from that column plus others make up this appetisingly photographed cook book. Everything I've made from it so far has been delicious and very well-received. These leek fritters are so much better than their name sounds and were all gobbled up straight away by just three of us!

Leek Fritters

Serve 4

450g leeks (about 2 or 3 leeks) trimmed weight
5 shallots, finely chopped
150 ml olive oil
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and sliced
25g parsley (leaves and fine stalks), finely chopped
3/4 t ground coriander
1 t ground cumin
1/4 t ground turmeric
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1 t sugar (I used raw caster sugar)
1/2 t salt
1 free-range egg white
120g self-raising flour
1 T (yes, T) baking powder
1 whole free-range egg
150ml milk
55g unsalted butter, melted


Sauce
100g Greek yoghurt
100g sour cream
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
20g parsley leaves, chopped
30g coriander leaves, chopped



Start by making the sauce.Whizz all the ingredients together in a food processor until a uniform green. Set aside for later.

The boys were pretty happy to eat the bread covered in the sauce too - it makes a delish, if garlicky dip.

Cut the leeks into 2cm thick slices; rinse and drain dry. Saute the leeks and shallots in a pan with half the oil on a medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until soft.


Transfer to a large bowl and add the chilli, parsley, spices, sugar and salt. Allow to cool down.

Whisk the egg white to soft peaks and fold it into the vegetables. In another bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, whole egg, milk and butter to form a batter. Gently mix it into the egg white and vegetable mixture.


Put 2 T of the remaining oil into a large frying pan and place over medium heat. Spoon about half of the vegetable mixture into the pan to make four large fritters. (I actually ended up making 12, not 8 fritters with this recipe as that seemed like the fritter size I was used to). Fry them 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden and crisp. Remove to kitchen paper and keep warm. Continue making the fritters, adding more oil as needed. Serve warm, with the sauce on the side or drizzled over.