Vegetable Spring Rolls with Fried Parmesan Polenta

Mon, 24 June 2019

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE POLENTA

• 400ml vegetable stock
• 150g quick-cook polenta, plus 2 tablespoons
• for dusting
• A pinch of sea salt
• 40g Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• Butter for greasing

FOR THE SPRING ROLLS

• 6–8 Chantenay carrots, top, tailed and halved
• 100g baby leeks, cut in half
• 100g asparagus tips, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Sea salt to season
• 1 avocado, peeled, destoned and roughly
• chopped
• 300ml red pepper purée (see page 177)
• 8 spring roll wrappers
• 1 egg, beaten
• 500ml sunflower/vegetable oil

TO GARNISH

• Red pepper purée (see page 177)
• Basil purée (see page 178)
• Oven-dried tomatoes (see page 183)
• 10g affilla cress

METHOD

1. Start with the polenta. Bring the stock to the boil and slowly whisk in the polenta, stirring constantly. Add a pinch of sea salt and, after a few minutes, once thickened, finely grate in the Parmesan and stir in      the oregano. Pour into a 20cm square tin greased with butter and lined with cling film, and pop in the fridge to chill and firm up for about 1 hour.

2. Cut the chilled polenta with a 5cm pastry cutter into nice rounds. Dust with the extra polenta. Keep chilled until you are frying the spring rolls.

3. For the spring rolls, start by boiling the Chantenay carrots in salted water for 6–8 minutes until nice and soft. Once cooked refresh them in some iced water Cook the leeks and asparagus in a frying pan in the olive oil on a medium heat until softened and slightly coloured. Add the carrots and cook for another minute. Season lightly with sea salt. Now remove from the heat and stir in the avocado and red pepper purée.

4. Using two wrappers per roll, fill four spring rolls with two heaped tablespoons of the vegetable mixture each, then roll the wrapper over the filling, tucking in each side as you do. This double wrap is to make sure they don’t break while cooking. Brush the open edge of the spring roll with the beaten egg to seal, so the rolls don’t open while frying.

5. Deep-fry the spring rolls and the polenta rounds in the sunflower/vegetable oil on a high heat for 2–3 minutes until golden and crispy. Once cooked, drain on some kitchen paper.

6. To plate, cut the spring rolls with a serratededge knife into three pieces at an angle, so they will stand up on the plate. Decorate the plate with the red pepper and basil purées, then add the three slices of spring roll, followed by a portion of the crispy polenta. Grate the extra Parmesan over the polenta.

7. Finally sit the ovendried tomatoes on top of the polenta and finish with 2–3 pieces of affilla cress.