Baked polenta with feta, béchamel and za’atar tomatoes

Ring the changes with this brilliant homemade alternative to a takeaway pizza from Ottolenghi and Noor Murad's book Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, Extra Good Things

"It’s not a pizza, insisted Noor, when referring to this baked polenta which does in fact look like a giant pizza. It ended up with multiple names at the Test Kitchen such as ‘polenta-pizza’, ‘polizza’ or ‘polenta not-a-pizza’. It really is a happy-looking pie with its yellows and reds and wonderfully golden edges. Serve with a chicory salad or anything leafy and green. You can keep this gluten-free by swapping out the flour for gluten-free flour, if you like."

Serves 4-6
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hr 30 minutes

80g unsalted butter

50g plain flour

750ml whole milk

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

200g quick cook polenta

65g pecorino romano, roughly grated

180g Greek feta, roughly crumbled

5g oregano sprigs (try to use the softer sprigs)

Za’atar tomatoes

400g datterini or cherry tomatoes

120ml olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 tbsp za’atar

1/2 tsp caster sugar

5g parsley roughly chopped

5g oregano leaves, roughly chopped

Salt and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C fan
2. Make the za’atar tomatoes. Put the tomatoes, oil, vinegar, garlic, 1/2 tsp salt and a good grind of pepper into a medium baking dish, roughly 30cm x 20cm. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring halfway through or until the tomatoes have just burst but aren’t completely falling apart. Remove the foil, gently stir in the za’atar and sugar and leave to cool completely. Once cool, stir in the herbs (gently so as not to break up the tomatoes).
3. Turn the heat up to 230°C fan (if your oven will go up that far. I’d need to use another setting on mine FB). Line a large baking tray roughly 40 x 30cm in size with baking parchment.
4. Put 40g of the butter into a medium saucepan over a medium high heat. Once melted, add the flour and cook, whisking continuously for 30 seconds or until it smells like popcorn. Slowly pour in 350ml of the milk, whisking continuously to avoid any lumps, then add the garlic, 1/2 tsp of salt and plenty of pepper, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often until quite thick and no longer floury-tasting. Set aside and cover with a piece of baking parchment to stop a skin forming.
5. Meanwhile prepare the polenta by first putting the remaining 400ml of milk, 300ml of water, 20g of the butter, 1 1/4 tsp of salt and a good grind of pepper into a medium sauté pan or saucepan over a medium high heat. Once it gently bubbles, turn the heat down to medium-low, slowly add the polenta, whisking continuously to incorporate and cook for 2 minutes to thicken. Add the pecorino and the remaining 20g of butter and stir with a spatula until incorporated. Quickly transfer to your prepared baking tray and spread out in a large oblong shape about 1cm thick and 38cm in length. Spoon over the bechamel and spread it so it covers the surface, leaving a 1 1/2 cm rim exposed around the edges. Top evenly with the feta and the oregano sprigs and bake for 22 minutes or until golden and bubbling on top and starting to brown round the edges. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes.
6. Spoon about half the za’atar tomatoes on top of the baked polenta, serving the rest in a bowl alongside. Use a pizza cutter to easily cut into slabs and serve warm

What to drink: A light juicy Italian red like a young chianti or rosso di montalcino or a mencia, cinsault or pais.

Extracted from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen Extra Good Things by Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Nurad published by Ebury Press at £25, Photograph © Elena Heatherwick.

Breadcrumbed Tomatoes Baked in Cream with Fried Chicken

There are so many recipes I want to make from Claire Thomson's brilliant new book Tomato but this decadent dish of breadcrumbed tomatoes baked in cream with fried chicken, as if you could make it any better, heads the list.

Claire writes "If you are going to go to the trouble of flouring, egging and breadcrumbing an ingredient – or pane, to use the French term – I feel that you might as well get your hands really dirty and process a whole lot.

In this case that means the tomatoes and the chicken, then going one step further and drenching the tomatoes in cream and mustard and baking them as a gratin until bubbling and blistering to serve alongside the fried chicken. A green salad, dressed simply, or some boiled green beans, might be a good serving suggestion.

SERVES 4

2 large, skinless chicken breasts, cut horizontally to about 2cm (3/4in) thick, or 4 boneless and skinless thighs

100ml (3½fl oz) double (heavy) cream

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

3 thyme or rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and finely chopped

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

5 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour

300g (10½oz) panko breadcrumbs (or any other dried breadcrumbs)

3 eggs

500g (1lb 2oz) tomatoes, thickly sliced

6 tablespoons olive oil

30g (1oz) Parmesan, grated (shredded)

30g (1oz) butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

1. Using a meat mallet or rolling pin, flatten the chicken breasts out between 2 sheets of baking paper until they are an even 5mm (1/4in) thick. Put to one side.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6.

3. In a bowl or jug mix, together the cream, garlic, herbs and mustard and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put to one side.

4. Tip the flour into a wide, shallow bowl and the breadcrumbs into another. In a third bowl, beat the eggs with 2 tablespoons of water.

5. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper, then dredge them in the flour, tapping off any excess. Dip them into the egg and then coat them in the breadcrumbs and put to one side.

6. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then dredge them in the flour, tapping off any excess. Dip the floured chicken pieces in the egg and then coat them with the breadcrumbs. Transfer the pieces to a plate and refrigerate until you’re ready to cook.

7. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Working in batches, fry the tomatoes for 1–2 minutes on each side, until golden all over. Slide the fried tomatoes out into a baking dish and pour over the cream mixture. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and bake the tomatoes for about 10–15 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven and keep warm.

8. While the tomato gratin is baking, heat the remaining oil and half the butter in a large frying pan over a high heat. When the mixture begins to bubble and foam, add the coated chicken pieces and cook them over a high–moderate heat for about 3 minutes on each side, until crisp and golden and cooked through. Take care not to let the butter burn. If it starts to look like it might, add more to the pan, which should help prevent it turning completely. Remove the pan from the heat and drain thechicken pieces on kitchen paper.

9. Serve the chicken pieces whole, or cut in half or into thick strips, with the tomato gratin alongside and lemon wedges for squeezing over.

What to drink: I always llke a sparkling wine with fried chicken so I'd be tempted by a crémant or an English sparkling wine, maybe. But with those creamy tomatoes a lightly oaked chardonnay such as a Chablis would be good too. Or a Gavi di Gavi

Extracted from TOMATO by Claire Thomson (Quadrille, £22) Photography: Sam Folan. For a couple of Claire's other recipes see Rosemary and Chilli Panisse, and Quinoa fritters with green goddess sauce.

Pizza by any other name

What to eat on a Sunday night when you've been out for the day and everyone suddenly wants supper? Rosie Sykes addresses just this issue in her delightful Sunday Night Book which was published in 2017.

It's full of short, easy but tempting recipes to rustle up from ingredients you're likely to have readily to hand or can pick up without too much effort from a small supermarket. This is one of my favourites.

Rosie writes: "What I’ve done here is turn a pizza on its head: this is basically a slightly sloppier version of the tomato sauce you might spread over a pizza base, spiked with some tasty morsels from the fridge, then topped with mozzarella and chunks of bread and baked. Couldn’t be easier, and it needs little in the way of accompaniment – although a green salad is always good. Feel free to pick and choose what to add to the tomato sauce, depending on what leftovers you have."

For 4

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

6 rashers streaky bacon

2 red onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped from stems

400g (14oz) stale bread, torn into chunks

250g (9oz) mushrooms, sliced

half a 280g (10oz) jar roasted red peppers, drained and torn into bite-sized pieces

1 x 400g (14oz) tin of tomatoes

1 bay leaf

175g (6oz) mozzarella

few sprigs of basil (optional)

sea salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.

Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan (with a lid) over a medium heat. Using scissors, snip the bacon into chunky lardon-like pieces straight into the hot oil, then let it sizzle and release its fat. As soon as the baconhas browned a little, lift it out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Throw the onions into the pan with a pinch of salt and stir to coat in the bacon fat. Add asplash more oil if they don’t look shiny, then turn the heat down to low and cook gently for about 7 minutes, or until soft but not brown.

Meanwhile, make the topping. In a large bowl, mix the garlic and thyme leaves with any remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Throw in the stale bread and toss to coat in the oily mixture. Season generously with black pepper – and maybe a pinch of salt, depending what kind of bread you are using.

When the onions are soft and sweet, turn the heat up to medium and add the mushrooms, along with another sprinkling of salt. Keep the pan moving while the mushrooms cook – this should take about 3–4 minutes. Next, add the peppers, return the bacon and, after a brief stir, add the tomatoes and bay leaf.

Bring the lot up to the boil and simmer vigorously for about 5 minutes to let everything get to know each other and for the sauce to reduce a little.

Season with salt and pepper to taste, then pour into a baking dish about 20cm x 15cm (8in x 6in) and shake gently to level, so that it completely covers the base of the dish. Tear the mozzarella – and the basil, if using – into bite-sized pieces and distribute evenly over the tomato sauce. Scatter the bread over the top, making sure everything is covered, then bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden, crisp and bubbling. Serve straight away.

What to drink: Given this is a leftovers dish I'm tempted to say whatever wine you have leftover from the previous night but in case the contents of your bottle have a habit of mysteriously disappearing a simple Sicilian or Southern Italian red - like a nero d'avola - would hit the spot perfectly. Nothing fancy. FB

From THE SUNDAY NIGHT BOOK: 52 short recipes to make the weekend feel longer by Rosie Sykes (Quadrille, £12.99) Photography: Patricia Niven

Tomato Tonnato

Few recipes are truly original but this twist on the classic vitello tonnato from Ed Smith of Rocket and Squash, using tomatoes as the base instead of roast veal is just inspired.

It comes from his brilliant book On the Side which, as the title suggests, is all about side dishes.

Ed writes: This might seem a surprising combination, but a fishy, umami-rich tonnato balances tomato’s natural acidity beautifully, punctuated by a sprinkling of salty and sour capers. I’ve enjoyed this with veal chops, pork belly, monkfish and cod, and I’m sure there are many other fine matches.

You’re likely to have some tonnato sauce left over, but it’s not efficient to make it in a smaller quantity. Happily, it keeps well for 2–3 days if covered and refrigerated. Use it to lubricate cold meats or roast lamb or as a flavoured mayonnaise in sandwiches. The tomatoes must be at room temperature and sliced thinly so that there’s plenty of cut surface area for the sauce to cling to.

Time needed: 30 minutes to an hour

Serves 6

6 medium (about 500g) tomatoes

2 tablespoons capers

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tonnato sauce

50g tinned anchovies in oil

160g tinned tuna, drained (120g drained weight)

2 teaspoons fish sauce

1 garlic clove, chopped

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

3 egg yolks

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

100g light olive oil

First, make the tonnato sauce. Put the anchovies with their oil, along with all the other sauce ingredients except the olive oil, in a blender or small food processor. Pulse, then blitz for about 1 minute, or until smooth. Add the olive oil in a steady drizzle until the mixture has completely emulsified and is smooth and glossy. Transfer it to a bowl and leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. It will firm up a little in that time – not essential, but nice.

Spoon 4–5 tablespoons of the tonnato sauce over a large serving plate. Slice the tomatoes thinly and layer them on top of the sauce. Add a good grind or three of black pepper, and just a little salt (the sauce and capers are themselves quite salty). Sprinkle the capers over the top and serve.

What to drink

I drank an albarino with this on one occasion and a dry rosé on another. Both worked really well, as would most unoaked Italian white wines.

Extract taken from On the Side: A Sourcebook of Inspiring Side Dishes by Ed Smith (Bloomsbury, £20)

Photography © Joe Woodhouse