Polenta Leaves with Zucchini Mille-Feuille and Coriander Fondue

           This week, as I wrote a post about “Trilogy of mushrooms”, I mentioned that I managed to get (quite in a mysterious way) a book featuring vegetarian dishes served at one Indian five-star hotel chain. As I said, the book – or, to be more precisely, simply a huge (more that 400 pages) magazine – is full of mouth-watering dishes. The only problem is – they are vegetarian. So my husband didn’t quite share my overwhelming excitement on getting this source of amazing recipes (when I try to serve vegetarian meal at home, he protests: “Honey, is there a widespread famine? Where is meat?!”) 

            Luckily, one of these days we had our piscaterian friends for dinner. Since I made quite a decent range of seafood starters, I felt that I had the right to prepare a vegetarian main course. My choice was a dish that struck me most when I looked through the book: beetroot and haricot layered zucchini mille fuille with polenta leaves and parsley fondue. I had to change beans for green peas and to substitute parsley with coriander (as I didn’t have the necessary ingredients in the fridge) but overall the dish looked exactly as on the photo from the book. To say true, it turned out to be decisively simple: it actually took me two hours to prepare it (there are quite a lot of elements that go on the plate!) but, needless to say, it was worth it. Even my husband who, to put it mildly, is not a big fan of polenta, finished it off in a few minutes!

            Now I’m waiting for another opportunity to cook a new dish from my “Vegetarian fare” book!

Polenta Round with Smoked Tuna and a Poached Egg

          One of the most popular versions of a continental breakfast is a toast with a slice of ham and an egg. If you look at it from a different angle and turn your imagination on, you can use this classic dish (which is not very exciting in its original form) as a starting point for creating something new. You should basicly “deconstruct” the dish in your mind: divide it into parts and think of the way to alternate them. For example, you can use a hushbrown or a vegetable fritter instead of a slice of bread for the base of your toast, you can substitute ham with a piece of tofu or a roundel of grilled aubergine, you can choose a fried egg or a scrambled one, and pick any sauce, chutney, relish or condiment to go with it. 

            Today I substitute bread with a polenta round: crispy outside and soft inside, with a hint of parmesan. A nice piece of smoked tuna goes next; I top it with a poached egg (using a special egg poacher to get the perfect shape) and there’s only thing left to add – a teaspoon of pesto. My breakfast stack is ready and, let me tell you, it has a much more refined look and a more exquisite taste that the original dish!