Recipe: Roasted pumpkin polenta with green harissa
Whether you’re vegetarian or vegan, or simply want to eat a little less meat: the new cookbook Green by Elly Pear is packed with easy recipes for weekdays as well as more elaborate ones for the weekend. Elly shows that with just a few ingredients, you can easily vary vegetarian and vegan dishes and cook plant-based meals. Take this roasted pumpkin polenta with green harissa, for example; surprisingly delicious!
Elly: “On top of this warm pumpkin polenta are dollops of fresh crème fraîche with spicy harissa. This is truly a meal that lifts the mood. I often haven’t even served it yet before my guests are already sitting there with their spoons at the ready, eager to dig in. I prefer to put the pan straight on the table, with a stack of bowls and a few spoons beside it, so everyone can serve themselves. Serve it with extra roasted pumpkin or beetroot, and put out a few small bowls of garnishes (harissa, cheese and crème fraîche). A salad of bitter-tasting leafy greens, such as radicchio, also makes an excellent accompaniment.”
How to make roasted pumpkin polenta with green harissa
- Preheat the oven to 190 °C and lightly grease a roasting tin or a baking tray with raised edges.
- Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and strings. Place the two halves flat-side down in the greased roasting tin and pour in two cups of water. Bake the halves in the oven for 1 hour, until soft. Remove the roasting tin from the oven and leave the pumpkin to cool.
- Scoop the flesh out of the halves and weigh it. Weigh out the same amount of polenta and calculate the combined weight of the ingredients.
- Now calculate the required amount of stock. For every 50 g of pumpkin-polenta mixture, you need 150 ml of vegetable stock. For example, for 250 g of pumpkin and 250 g of polenta (500 g in total), you need 1500 ml, or 1½ litres, of stock.
- Bring water to the boil in a kettle or saucepan. Measure out 1.5 litres of boiling water and dissolve the stock powder in it.
Pour the stock into a large pan and bring it to the boil. Add the polenta very gradually, whisking constantly. - Add the pumpkin purée and replace the whisk with a rubber spatula (a heat-resistant one!). Keep stirring for 3 minutes.
- Stir in the butter and immediately remove the pan from the heat. Season the polenta with salt and pepper.
- Before serving, spoon on a few dollops of crème fraîche and harissa, and generously sprinkle the grated cheese over everything.
- Serve the extra garnishes in separate bowls.
Title: Green
Author: Elly Pear
Price: €25
Publisher: Spectrum
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