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Grana Padano polenta cakes with exotic tomatoes and olives

Name: Grana Padano polenta cakes with exotic tomatoes and olives
Prep time: PTM
Cook time: PTM
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Main Meals
Ingredients: For the polenta: ,liquid (use a mix of water and vegetable stock) 4cups,Woolworths polenta 160g,sea salt, to taste ,salted butter 2T,Grana Padano, grated, plus extra for topping ½cup,extra virgin olive oil 2T,For the tomato topping: ,extra virgin olive oil 2T,Woolworths exotic tomatoes, halved 350g,Woolworths black Mission olives in brine ½cup,Woolworths roasted cherry tomatoes, drained ½ x 180g jar,sea salt, to taste ,black pepper, freshly ground, to taste ,juice of ½ lemon ,fresh basil, to garnish ,Grana Padano, to garnish

By TASTE

Serves 4

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cooking Time 15 minutes

Grana Padano is one of Italy’s most iconic cheeses– made from partially skimmed milk, aged for months, and known for its distinctive savoury, nutty flavour. It’s protected by PDO status, meaning every wheel is made according to strict traditional methods that date back almost a thousand years. That deep, developed flavour is what makes Grana Padano such a great match for polenta. In this recipe, it’s stirred into creamy polenta to add richness and depth, then shaped into small cakes and pan-fried until golden.

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Ingredients

Method

For the polenta:

4 cups liquid (use a mix of water and vegetable stock)
160 g Woolworths polenta
sea salt, to taste
2 T salted butter
½ cup Grana Padano, grated, plus extra for topping
2 T extra virgin olive oil

For the tomato topping:

2 T extra virgin olive oil
350 g Woolworths exotic tomatoes, halved
½ cup Woolworths black Mission olives in brine
½ x 180 g jar Woolworths roasted cherry tomatoes, drained
sea salt, to taste
black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
juice of ½ lemon
fresh basil, to garnish
Grana Padano, to garnish

Method

Ingredients

1. To make the polenta, bring the liquid to a boil in a saucepan. Slowly whisk the polenta in a steady stream to prevent lumps from forming. Reduce the heat and cook gently, stirring often, until the mixture thickens.

2. Season with salt, stir in the butter and Grana Padano. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

3. Pour the cooked polenta onto a baking sheet and smooth out to about 1.5–2 cm thick. Allow it to cool completely until firm. Once set, cut the polenta into discs (or squares, if preferred) and top with more grated Grana Padano, if desired.

4. Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a pan over a medium heat and fry the polenta pieces until golden and crisp on both sides.

5. To make the topping, heat the olive oil in the same pan and gently fry the tomatoes until blistered and juicy. Add the olives and cherry tomatoes and cook for another couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

6. To serve, arrange the crispy polenta pieces on a plate, spoon over the warm topping, and garnish with more Grana Padano and fresh basil.

Photography: Shavan Rahim
Videography: Kaylene Sauls
Recipes: Marcelle van Rooyen
Food assistant: Bianca Jones

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With its crystalline, crumbly texture and mild, delicate flavour, it’s no mystery why Grana Padano is so popular. Its consistently excellent quality is due to each wheel being examined at nine months by an impartial technician from the official Consortium of Grana Padano. Only after this does a wheel of Grana Padano receive its iconic firebrand – your guarantee of authenticity and exceptional flavour.

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