Red onion, broccoli and blue cheese polenta tart

So much of what I cook at the moment seems to be trying to rescue something growing in my garden before it goes to seed/rots/gets eaten (by something other than me)/is generally ruined.

This week I made and froze an enormous batch of broccoli and stilton soup and still had more broccoli than I could use. In the far reaches of my mind I remembered making a polenta tart before and thought it could be a good, slightly different, way of using some of the broccoli up.

It was light and summery and sweet and salty and generally scrummy.

100g polenta
400ml water
3 red onions, sliced
1 tomato, deseeded and diced
½ a head of broccoli, cut into small florets
75g blue cheese
knob butter
3 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
pinch cayenne pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 200C

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pan and gently fry the onion, with a little salt, until it is very soft and slightly sticky – about 20-30 minutes - adding the tomato for the final 5 minutes or so.

Blanche the broccoli in a pan of boiling water for 2-3 minutes drain and set aside.

Bring the water to a boil and then pour in the polenta in a steady stream, stirring constantly. Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring all the while, season with the salt, pepper and cayenne, and then spoon it into a tart tin and smooth over.

Top the polenta with the onion mixture, then the broccoli, then crumble the blue cheese over the top.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden.

Eat and enjoy!

Serves two (with leftovers that are great for lunch)

Szechuan tofu, broccoli and spinach

I over indulged slightly this weekend (big shock) which always makes me crave something virtuous feeling. This recipe is perfect – it’s hot, lemony and fresh but a bit stodgy and comforting at the same time. It’s based on a James Martin recipe, but I just can’t leave things alone so I’ve tweaked it a bit. I’m not sure how ‘authentic’ it is but it tastes great which is really what matters.

It’s really important to fry the tofu first – otherwise it lives up to its bland reputation. I started bashing the cashews and garlic with the pepper and chilli because it seems to help to break everything up more and stop it from being gritty. It also has the benefit of thickening the sauce and giving it a satay tang.

125g firm tofu cut into approx 1.5 cm cubes

1 head broccoli cut into florets

Handful spinach

Handful cashews

½ onion finely chopped

1 tsp szechuan pepper

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 clove garlic

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp sake

Large pinch sugar

4 tbsp water

1 tsp cornflour mixed with a little water

1 cup rice

2 cups water

Bash up 5-6 cashews, the szechuan pepper, chilli and garlic in a pestle and mortar until you get a thick, biscuit-y paste.

Heat a wok and gently toast the remaining cashews then set aside. Add a tablespoon of oil and fry the tofu until golden and set that aside too.

Mix the soy sauce, vinegar, sake, sugar and water together.

Rinse the rice well and put it in a pan with 2 cups of cold water and cover. Bring to the boil, stir once and then turn the heat right down and leave until the rice has absorbed all the water (about 10 minutes)

Heat another tablespoon of oil in the wok. Add the onion and fry for a minute before adding the cashew and pepper mix. Fry briefly before adding the broccoli and tofu. Stir again at then add the sauce. Cook for a couple of minutes, until the broccoli is almost cooked and then stir in the spinach.

Once the spinach has wilted add the cornflour and cook until thickened. Finally add the cashews before serving with the rice.

Serves two