The lead up to Christmas sees the lifestyle media go into over-drive with ideas for Christmas food. (A bit like we’ve done here at The Coeliac’s Revenge.) There are dozens of thoughts on ways to dress the ham and turkey, what seafood to buy and what pudding is best and so on. Yet we’ve observed that there is little on offer for the vegetarians amongst us, particularly amongst the gluten-free suggestions.
We’ve come up with a few simple ideas to bring smiles to the faces of those who don’t eat meat or simply want to limit the amount they do.
This baked Parmesan polenta dish is not only really delicious, it’s substantial enough to serve as a main and, with its festive colours of tomatoes and zucchinis, it’s perfect for the Christmas table. Nothing could be simpler than the barbecued corn and green bean spiced salad, and it too is festively vibrant. And we think that the focaccia topped with rosemary, Spanish onions and olives will disappear faster than you can pop a Christmas cracker.
Caren
BAKED WHITE POLENTA WITH PARMESAN, HEIRLOOM TOMATOES AND BABY ZUCCHINIS
Serves 8-10 as part of a meal
200 ml cream
800 ml milk
6-8 thyme sprigs
2 rosemary stems
12 large basil leaves (plus extra to scatter over the finished dish)
10 white peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, bruised
175 gm fine white polenta
½ teaspoon salt
20 gm cold butter, cubed
60 gm Parmesan finely grated (plus extra for shaving over the finished dish)
1 tablespoon olive oil for frying
1-2 punnets baby zucchinis with their flowers
500 gm heirloom tomatoes of varying shapes and colours
Extra virgin olive oil
Chardonnay vinegar
Grease a dish approximately 25cm square.
In a medium saucepan heat the cream and the milk with all the herbs, peppercorns and garlic to just below boiling point. Turn off the heat and leave to infuse for 45 minutes at least.
Strain the mix and discard the solids.
Bring cream and milk blend to the boil in a large clean saucepan and whisk in the polenta and salt. Continue whisking for 10 -15 minutes over a low heat, being careful not to burn yourself on the bubbling polenta.
Add the butter a cube at a time, using a wooden spoon, until each cube is incorporated.
Beat in the Parmesan until it is well combined.
Pour the polenta into the greased dish. Immediately imbed a third of the zucchinis, cut lengthwise, and a third of the tomatoes, cut and sliced as you prefer, into the polenta.
(At this stage you can cool the dish, cover it and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavours to develop. It will keep for up to 3 days at this stage.)
Preheat the oven to 175°C.
Bake the polenta for 30 minutes until it is just beginning to brown around the edges.
While the polenta is baking, remove the flowers from the remaining zucchinis and halve the zucchinis lengthwise. Fry them in the olive oil for one minute. Remove to a plate. Add the remaining cut tomatoes and fry for one minute.
Remove the polenta from the oven and place the zucchinis and tomatoes over the top.
Dress with some virgin olive oil and some vinegar. Finally, scatter the torn flowers and some Parmesan shavings over the lot.
BARBECUED CORN AND GREEN BEAN SALAD WITH MEXICAN SPICES.
Serves 8-10 as part of a meal.
4 sweet corn cobs, husks removed
500 gm green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Sea salt and black pepper
50 gm butter, sliced
2 teaspoons Mexican spice blend or a combination of paprika and ground cumin
Heat the barbecue to medium.
Place the corn cobs on the barbecue for 10 minutes, turning regularly, until they are just beginning to char. Remove and allow to cool enough to handle.
Meanwhile blanch the beans in boiling water for one minute, drain and, just before the corn is ready, place them on the grill plate to char a bit.
Hold the cobs firmly and cut the kernels off the cob into a bowl.
Add the beans to the corn and toss with the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
Tip the mix onto a serving platter, dress with the butter and scatter the spices over the top.
REVENGE ALMOND FOCACCIA WITH ROSEMARY AND OLIVES
Serves 8
180 gm ground blanched almonds
60 gm tapioca flour
65 gm cornflour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon psyllium husks
1 teaspoon sea salt
5 eggs
80 ml mild olive oil
80 ml white wine vinegar
½ Spanish onion, finely sliced
20 fresh rosemary sprigs
½ cup black olives pitted and roughly cut
Extra sea salt
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Loosely line an 18cm x 26 cm shallow pan or a round cake tin with baking paper.
Combine the dry ingredients.
Combine the eggs, oil and vinegar.
Mix the dry and wet ingredients together.
Pour the mix into the pan.
Scatter the onion and olives over the focaccia. Push the rosemary sprigs at regular intervals into the batter and lightly sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a testing skewer comes out clean.
Remove the pan from the oven and after 5 minutes lift the focaccia out of the pan by the paper. Remove the paper and rest for half an hour on a cake rack before cutting.
You can change the flavour profile by adding different toppings such as chilli flakes, nigella seeds, sesame seeds, oregano and garlic.