Rukmini Iyer shares a quick and easy recipe for cheesy polenta with tomatoes, butter beans and pesto. This 30-minute dish is perfect for transitional spring evenings, offering warm and filling comfort food. The polenta cooks in under two minutes when using quick-cook variety, and the best part is that leftover polenta can be chilled and used for a meal the next day.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Polenta is often overlooked in favor of pasta or rice, but it is a versatile and satisfying base. With minimal extra effort, you can prepare a second meal: pour half the cooked polenta into a tray, stud with olives or extra cheddar, chill overnight, then cut into squares or chips and fry until crisp. It's a cook once, eat twice win.
Ingredients
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 x 570g jar butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 400ml vegetable stock
- 100g quick-cook polenta (dry, coarse kind, not vacuum-packed blocks)
- 40g parmesan (vegetarian if needed), grated
- Flaky sea salt, to taste
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Fresh basil pesto, shop-bought or homemade, to serve
- 1 handful toasted pine nuts, to serve
Method
- Put the oil in a large frying pan on low heat, add the garlic, and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes, turn up the heat to medium, and let them soften, stirring occasionally, for five minutes.
- Stir in the butter beans, cover the pan, and cook for a further five minutes. Give it a final stir, then turn off the heat and cover again.
- Pour the stock into a large saucepan, bring to a boil, then pour in the polenta, whisking as you go. Whisk furiously for one and a half minutes until the polenta thickens, then turn off the heat and stir in the parmesan, salt, and lemon juice. The texture should be flowing like lava, not stiff; stir through a splash more stock to loosen if needed.
- Taste and add more salt and lemon juice if required. Serve immediately in wide bowls, with the tomato and butter bean mixture piled on top, and pesto and pine nuts dotted around.
