Vegan Crispy Polenta Bites

Step 1

Lightly grease and line a square tray with olive oil. The depth and width of the tray will impact the size of the polenta squares. I recommend using a 33x23cm non stick baking tin but this will still work with any size tray you have.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 150C and place the cherry tomatoes on the tray and brush with olive oil & season to taste. Cook for 30 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 90C and cook for another 2 hours.

Step 3

Bring the stock to the boil and then turn the heat down as you slowly whisk in the polenta (taking care to remove any lumps). Once the mix has been cooking for a few minutes and has noticeably thickened and is getting harder to whisk, remove the pan from the heat. Pour the mix into your prepared tray and smooth out the top with a spatula. Once cool put in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour until firm.

Step 4

While your polenta is chilling, make the tapenade by blending the olives, extra virgin olive oil, capers & red wine vinegar in a blender (you can also finely chop the ingredients for a more textured tapenade). Place into a jar & put in the fridge until you need to plate.

Step 5

Remove the chilled polenta from the fridge and cut into small squares using a sharp knife. Place the squares onto a lined tray, brush them with oil and cook under a hot grill until golden and crispy (5-10 minutes). Plate up the squares with a spoonful of tapenade, a slow roasted tomato each & a baby basil leaf.