Polenta (500g)

This is the moody teenager of our range - it often stays shut away in its cupboard because nobody understands it. But it’s simple really.

Polenta is corn meal, that’s to say it is ground up sweetcorn (or “maize”). There are three sorts of ways you can use it:

• Cook it and let it set into a sort of loaf, then use it as the base for bruschetta or canapés. (You can add herbs or stock before cooking if you like.) Grilling it with some bacon and Dolcelatte on top makes a brilliant lunch
• Use it to make your cornmeal porridge, popular in Caribbean cooking. Ours will cook in 1 minute
• Use it like breadcrumbs to coat chicken or skinned sausages before cooking. You get a nice crispy coating, and kids love it

More ideas:

• Chop set Polenta into small cubes and deep fry. Allow to cool and use as croutons in soups and salads
• Add some flavour to your Polenta by adding grated Parmesan, fresh herbs, pesto or sun dried tomato sauce during cooking
• Mix soft polenta with pesto and line a tart tin, leave to set. Once firm, fill with your favourite tart fillings – we love using cheese, peppers, onion or ham
• Chop set polenta into cubes and thread onto kebab skewers, alternate the Polenta with SunBlush® Tomatoes and chunks of halloumi cheese, than grill on the barbecue