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Baked polenta with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, rocket and balsamic vinegar

Tamasin Day-Lewis from Tamasin Day Lewis
A mouth-watering starter from Tamasin Day-Lewis - golden crisp polenta with soft milky mozzarella and juicy roasted tomatoes

Baked polenta with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, rocket and balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5. Grease a 22cm round cake tin and line with greaseproof paper.

2. Put the milk in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the polenta in a thin continuous stream, stirring constantly to remove any lumps. Stir in the cream, mascarpone, Parmesan, salt and pepper. Whisk for about 5 minutes until thickened.

3. Spoon the polenta into the cake tin, levelling the surface with a wet palette knife. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

4. Meanwhile, put the cherry tomatoes in roasting tray and sprinkle with olive oil, turning to coat. Season with salt and pepper, and scatter with thyme and rosemary sprigs. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

5. Remove the polenta from the tin and cut it into slices. Brush the slices on both sides with oil.

6. Heat a stove-top ridged grill until very hot. Place the polenta slices on the grill and griddle for 2-3 minutes, turning, until crisp round the edges.

7. Place a bed of rocket on a serving platter. Arrange the polenta slice, tomatoes and mozzarella on top and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar. Serve.

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Serves: 4

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 1 hr 5 min

Ingredients
oil, for greasing
700ml Milk
150g organic medium-coarse Polenta
3 tbsp double cream
1 tbsp Mascarpone
50g Parmesan, freshly grated
salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 thyme sprigs
1-2 fresh rosemary sprigs
2-3 good handfuls of Rocket
1 buffalo mozzarella cheese, sliced
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar