Post edited 9:01 pm – 08/06/2009 by marzutra

Mama Waserman was one of the great matriarchs of the Jewish community in Italy before that god damn Pope took control and forced her out to eastern europe; doomed to prepare stodgy food for eterenity.

She always complained of the sweeteness of the Purim tale and its traditional accompanying festive food so she came up with this alternative…

Purim Polenta Triangle

Ingredients:

Polenta
Tomatoes (cherry for their sweetness)
Basil (dried or fresh)
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Vegetable stock

Decide how much polenta you want to make.

(An adult portion is 50-60g. For every portion of polenta you need to cook it in 4 times as much water so, if making 120g of polenta, use 480 ml of water). I use instant polenta which cooks in minutes. If you can't get instant adjust the cooking time accordingly.
For every portion (50-60g) use 4 cherry tomatoes cut into quarters, half a table spoon of olive oil oil, half tbsp of basil.

For 120g of polenta…

Bring120g of water to the boil on the stove,

Add some salt and pepper, one table spoon of olive oil, 1 tbsp of basil, 1 tbsp vegetable stock and 8 cherry tomatoes cut into quarters and stir.

Add the polenta stirring in a continuous stream with a wooden spoon or wisk.

Keep on stirring over a low heat until the mixture gets firm. For this recipe it's best to get the mixture as firm as possible so keep going until the mixture gets to stiff to whisk (be careful not to let it burn).

Scoop out of the pan into a baking tray and flatten out with a folk so the mixture is approximately and inch thick across. Leave out to stand for 30 minutes to cool down and set.

Pre-heat over to a medium heat (gas mark 5)

Put polenta in for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and leave to cool and set for another 30 minutes

Cut with a sharp knife into triangles.

Great with a pickled cucumber side salad!