Crushed peppercorn polenta with vegetable ragout

A savory favorite, and a quick weeknight dinner!

Since learning I was gluten intolerant, polenta has become one of my favorite things to cook. I never appreciated how simple it was to make, and how easy it is to pack with flavor. This is one of my favorite polenta recipes because it can be made ahead and the polenta still stays fairly soft. In this recipe, I'm using some of my favorite quick-cook vegetables, but you could really use anything you like, such as cauliflower, mushrooms, peppers. I would recommend keeping the tomatoes, or adding some tomato paste and water, to keep the vegetable ragout juicy and moist.

It may seem like a lot to chop, but they are easy veggies to chop so it's quite quick.

The house is smelling good now! Vegetables nicely cooked with all that garlic!

If you are not going to eat it right away, layer it in a baking dish and it keeps well in the fridge.

Reheated in the microwave the next night for a delicious dinner!

Ingredients:

1 zucchini/courgette

270 g (about 2 cups whole) cherry tomatoes

200 g (about 20 stalks or 1 1/3 cups chopped) asparagus

115 g (about 4 large handfuls) baby spinach

4 cloves garlic

1 red chili or dried chili flakes (optional)

1 tbsp olive oil or vegan butter

875 ml (3 1/2 cups) water

160 g (1 cup) quick polenta

10 black peppercorns

salt & pepper

truffle oil (optional)

Method:

1. Prep vegetables: dice asparagus to 1/2 cm-1 cm pieces; cut cherry tomatoes into quarters; cut zucchini into thin slices then cut into halves or quarters; peel, de-germ and halve garlic; finely chop chili

2. Heat frying pan with olive oil/vegan butter and sauté garlic for 2 minutes then add asparagus and chili if using and sauté 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and zucchini. When tomatoes are soft, add spinach and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat

3. Bring water to boil in a medium pot. Using a rolling pin or mug, crush peppercorns and add to water along with 2 tsp salt. Using a whisk, begin stirring the water and slowly add in the polenta. Stir constantly (and carefully as the polenta splashes!) and bring to a boil. Boil 2-3 minutes then remove from heat. Stir in truffle oil if desired and add salt and pepper to taste

4. Either serve hot with ragout on top of polenta, or pour ragout into bottom of a baking dish and smooth polenta on top. Once cooled, store covered in the fridge

Serves 6