Polenta Slice with Burnt Pineapple, Pancetta and Blue Sauce

Photo courtesy of Photography by Sadiq

Polenta is traditionally an Italian dish but I've tweaked around with the flavours a little. The sweetness and the caramelising of pineapple bounces nicely with salty pancetta and creamy blue sauce over a set polenta. A fun alternative for a dinner main.

Polenta:
250g coarse polenta
675ml water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
25g butter
50g grated parmesan

1 pineapple
24 slices of pancetta
2 red chillies, diced
1 small bunch torn coriander leaves

Blue Sauce:
200g gorgonzola
75ml double cream
100ml buttermilk
1 teaspoon dijon mustard

METHOD:
Start by making the polenta, place water in a large heavy-based pot and put over high heat and bring to the boil. Add the polenta and salt, turn down the heat to medium and stir with a wooden spoon. After about 4-5 minutes the polenta will thicken and will resemble mashed potatoes. Remove from heat then stir in butter and parmesan until well incorporated. Line a 30x20cm (3cm high) tray with parchment paper and pour in the polenta and evenly smooth out. Leave the polenta to cool for about 2 hours before cutting.
To make the cheese sauce place the gorgonzola and cream in a saucepan, put over a medium heat, stir the sauce until the cheese is almost melted. Remove sauce from heat and pour in a food processor with buttermilk and dijon, blend together until smooth.
Lay pancetta on a baking tray and cook at 180ºC for 4 to 5 minutes. Top and tail the pineapple then slice off the skin by sliding a sharp knife round the edges. Slice the pineapple into quarters lengthways then remove the core. Cut each quarter into 1cm thick slices lengthwise place a fry pan over high heat. Once the frying pan is hot and smoking a little grill each slice of pineapple on both sides until it starts to brown and go a little black.
To construct slice the polenta into 8 pieces and lay on a serving platter or individual plates. Layer each polenta slice with 2 slices of pineapple, a good spoonful of blue sauce, 3 pieces of pancetta and finally garnish with a sprinkling of chillies and coriander.

Polenta Crumbed Pumpkin

This dish is perfect for winter, a great hearty vegetarian substitute for schnitzel. You can use any type of squash for this dish however I prefer the creamy soft taste of Crown Prince squash usually found from mid autum to late winter. This dish is dedicated to all the harmless farm animals who are being slaughted for for the sake of our unimaginative dinner menu ideas. Go hug some cattle today and tell them 'Your Sorry'.

1 Small Crown Prince Squash 400g coarse polenta
200g cup plain flour
2 eggs
300ml milk
410g can of chopped tomatoes
1 brown onion
2 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon sugar
50g butter
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 rosemary stalk
200g feta
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper

Method:
Cut the Pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and skin then slice pumpkin into 1’’ wedges (you should get around 12 wedges) and place aside.
Then your going to need 3 bowls for crumbing the pumpkin in one bowl place the polenta, another bowl the flour and another bowl the egg and milk and beat together till evenly combined then start crumbing the pumpkin wedges. First place a wedge in the flour evenly coating all sides then dip in the egg and lastly coat in the polenta and place aside and repeat with the rest of the pumpkin wedges.
Melt half the butter in a large heave based fry pan on medium heat and evenly distribute several of the crumbed pumpkin wedges round the pan you should be able to fit around 4-5 wedges in the pan, fry each side of the pumpkin for around 3-4 minutes or till golden brown, once cooked place aside in a deep baking tray. Repeat the cooking process with remaining butter. Evenly lay out the pumpkin wedges on baking tray and place in oven on 160oC to finish cooking.

To make the sauce roughly dice the onion and peeled garlic, add olive oil to a sauce pan and bring to the heat over a hot element, add the onion and garlic and cook till the onion starts to lightly brown. Add the tomatoes and bring to the simmer then add the sugar and season with salt and pepper, turn the down the heat and place a lid on the sauce. Remove the rosemary leaves from stalk and finally chop and add to the sauce, cook the sauce for a further 5 minutes.

Once the sauce is cook remove the pumpkin from oven and serve 3 wedges of pumpkin per person with a generous ladle spoon of tomato sauce over the pumpkin and a sprinkle of feta over the sauce and garnish with extra finely chopped rosemary.