vegan appetisers

Up your vegan canapé game with these crispy polenta bites. They're packed full of flavour, easy to make and are a hit with every dinner guest. Winning combination for an easy vegan appetiser. 

Vegan Crispy Polenta Bites

Polenta:

Olive oil

quick cook polenta

vegetable stock (homemade

salt

tsp black pepper

Slow roasted tomatoes:

olive oil

cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt

Pepper

Tapenade:

(drained weight) kalamata olives

extra virgin olive oil

capers

tsp red wine vinegar

To serve:

basil leaves

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

These Salt and Pepper Chips are a great take on a classic takeaway dish. Thick cut chips tossed in an aromatic homemade salt and pepper spice mix.

Salt and Pepper Chips

frozen oven chips

1tbsp neutral oil, e.g. sunflower or vegetable

green pepper, sliced

garlic, minced

white onion,

red chillies, sliced

bird eye red chilli, minced

spring onion greens/scallion greens, roughly chopped

Chinese 5 spice

1/2tsp garlic powder

white pepper

1/2tsp salt

1/4tsp MSG

white sugar

Start by air frying or baking some frozen...

Start by air frying or baking some frozen oven chips as per the packaging instructions. I always prefer thick cut chips for this recipe but fries would also work too

In the meantime, it's worth preparing all the...

In the meantime, it's worth preparing all the other ingredients and keeping them ready. This recipe takes minutes to cook and so it's worth having everything sliced, minced, chopped, and ready to go. This is called mise en place

To make the salt and pepper spice mix,...

To make the salt and pepper spice mix, simply mix together the Chinese 5 spice, garlic powder, white pepper, salt, sugar, and MSG (if using). If you're not using MSG, add the same amount of additional salt (1/4tsp). If you'd like to make a larger amount of the salt and pepper spice mix to keep on hand - see blogpost for more details and measurements

Heat a wok or frying pan over a...

Heat a wok or frying pan over a medium-high heat. A carbon steel wok will impart 'wok-hei', which is the smoky caramelised flavour that you find in restaurant food and takeout spots. So if you have one, it's worth using here

Add the oil followed by the onion, garlic,...

Add the oil followed by the onion, garlic, and red bird eye chillies. Sauté briefly for around 30 seconds, and then add in the green peppers, and red chillies. Continue to sauté for another 30-45 seconds, stirring continuously

Next, add the cooked chips along with the...

Next, add the cooked chips along with the salt and pepper spice mix and the spring onions

Toss everything together several times to ensure the...

Toss everything together several times to ensure the seasoning is fully dispersed throughout the chips

Serve up immediately - this is best served...

Serve up immediately - this is best served right away as the chips will soften and cool down if left

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/ivsm8rnkpgihlm8foyl5.mp4

Top 2 vegan appetisers recipes from across the web

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Vegan Crispy Polenta Bites

Salt and Pepper Chips

Top 2 vegan appetisers recipes from across the web

The most viewed vegan appetisers recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Vegan Crispy Polenta Bites

Salt and Pepper Chips

The most viewed vegan appetisers recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine