Baked Polenta, Med Veg and Almond Pesto

This recipe was a bit of a "let's see what I can do with the only 5 things I have left in the fridge" type recipe, but it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. The pesto was super quick and easy to prepare and the rest was cooked in the oven. It was pretty minimal on the washing up front too, which is definitely a plus!

As most pesto contains cheese and is therefore not vegan, I decided to whiz up my own. Although it is fairly easy to buy jarred vegan pesto from most large supermarkets or wholefoods shops, I often find it to be quite dry and flavourless. However, this fresh homemade lemon, almond and basil pesto is so much more tangy and delicious!

Unfortunately I had no pine nuts left in my depleted cupboards, so I had to be a little inventive and use lightly toasted almonds instead. The verdict... surprisingly good! I think the almonds gave the pesto a nuttier and richer flavour.

Since I tend to just kind of make recipes up as I cook, one thing I haven't quite mastered yet is being exact with quantities and remembering how much of everything I use. So here is an educated guess at the recipe...

Ingredients:

(For baked polenta)

-100g polenta

-400ml boiling water

(For roasted veg)

- 1/2 pointed red pepper

- 1/2 courgette

- 1/3 aubergine

- handful of baby plum tomatoes

- handful of black pitted olives

- garlic

- extra virgin olive oil

- balsamic vinegar

(For pesto)

- large handful of almonds

- 2 handfuls of fresh basil

- 1/2 lemon + zest

- 1 clove of garlic

- extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. In a large bowl mix the polenta with the boiling water, season and stir until the mixture thickens. Rub a little olive oil around a deep baking tray, the polenta won't really rise or expand a great deal so use your judgement and pick a tray that will make the polenta about 3-5cm thick (I used a loaf tin as I only made a small amount of polenta). Place the polenta in the middle of the oven and bake for 30-40 mins. Check regularly to ensure the polenta has not dried out or started to burn on top. When it is cooked it should be firmer inside and a little crispy on the top.

2) Whilst the polenta is cooking, prepare the veg. I cut the pepper into quarters lenghtways and made disks of courgette and aubergine about 1cm thick. Place all the veg, including the olives, garlic and tomatoes (all whole), into another baking dish along with a generous glug of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Place into the oven for about 20 mins, then remove and stir in a splash of balsamic vinegar.

3) Whilst the polenta and veg are cooking, you can make the pesto. First, sprinkle the whole almonds evenly onto a baking tray and lightly toast them for 2/3 mins. De-stalk the basil and add it to a food processor along with the garlic, oil, lemon juice and zest, almonds, and salt and pepper. Blitz the mixture until fairly smooth, add more oil if it doesn't seem runny enough.

It should look something like this...

4) Finally, once everything is out of the oven, cut a portion of the polenta and place it on a plate. Top the polenta with the roasted veg, and pour over some of the juice from the roasting dish. Top the whole dish with a generous spoonful of fresh pesto, some fresh basil leaves and a sprinkling of black pepper.

You will have yourself a delicious, simple and satisfying meal which is gluten, dairy and meat free. Enjoy! x