Herby polenta with pesto
Ingredients
- 400g cherry tomatoes
- 300g shallots, peeled
- 400g shiitake mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 2 sweet peppers, thickly sliced
- 1 courgette, cubed
- 1 eggplant, cubed
- 1 bulb garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup cashews, soaked in hot water
- 2 cups fresh packed basil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 ½ cups water
- ½ cup plant-based milk
- 1 cup polenta
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- ½ cup vegan parmesan
- 1 ½ tbsp nooch
- 1 bunch coriander, chopped
- 1 bunch chives, chopped
- 1 bunch parsley, chopped
- ½ lemon, zest and juice
Steps
- Preheat oven to 160°C and line a baking tray.
- Place the tomatoes, shallots, mushrooms, eggplant, courgette, peppers and garlic on the tray.
- Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss to evenly coat all the vegetables.
- Place the vegetables in the oven for one hour or until tomatoes are blistered.
- Meanwhile put ingredients from cashews to salt in the blender and blend until finely chopped.
- With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and blend until smooth.
- With 15-20 minutes left for the vegetables, start the polenta.
- Bring the water and plant milk to a low boil in a pot
- Pour in the polenta whilst stirring with a whisk. Add the baking soda and salt and mix.
- Cover, turn the heat to low, and let cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the butter, parmesan, and nooch and stir until completely combined.
- Remove the pot from the heat, and stir in the herbs.