7/31/2019 Yotam Ottolenghi Prepares Sweetcorn Polenta

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Photograph by Colin Cam pbell

This polenta, made of real corn, is nothing like the one made of ground cornmeal. It is

sweeter, softer and less uniform. In fact, it is so sweet you need to balance it with lots of

savoury stuff, hence the feta. Choose young, pale corn cobs, because they give the best

flavour and a light consistency. Serves four.

6 corn ears (560g scraped kernels)

500ml water

40g butter

200g feta, crumbled

tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For the aubergine sauce

150ml vegetable oil

1 medium aubergine, in 2cm dice

2 tsp tomato paste

60ml white wine

200g chopped peeled tomatoes (fresh or tinned)

100ml water

tsp salt

tsp sugar

1 tbsp chopped oregano, plus whole leaves to garnish

First make the sauce. Heat the oil in a large pan, then fry the aubergine on medium heat

for 15 minutes, until nicely browned. Drain and discard as much oil as you can. Stir in the

tomato paste, and cook for two minutes on medium heat. Add the wine and cook for

another minute. Add the tomatoes, water, salt, sugar and oregano, and cook for five

minutes, to get a deep flavoured sauce. Set aside.

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The new vegetarianSweetcorn polenta

Yotam Ot tolen ghi

The Guardian, Saturday 20 September 2008

7/31/2019 Yotam Ottolenghi Prepares Sweetcorn Polenta

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To make the polenta, chop the very top and bottom off every corn ear. Stand the ear on

its base, and use a sharp knife to shave off the kernels. Place the kernels in a medium-

sized saucepan and pour in the water, to cover. Add half the butter and cook on a low

simmer for 12 minutes. Lift out the kernels with a slotted spoon, and transfer to a food

processor. Process for quite a few minutes, to break as much of the kernel case as

possible. If the mixture is too dry to process, add a little of the cooking water.

Return the corn paste to the water pan and, over low heat and stirring all the while, cook

again for about 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to the consistency of

mashed potato. Now fold in the remaining butter, feta, salt and pepper, and cook for two

minutes longer. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Divide the polenta into shallow bowls and spoon some warm sauce in the centre. Garnish

the aubergine sauce with picked oregano leaves and serve hot.

Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi in London.

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