Polenta with Mushrooms, Pesto & Courgettes

Our latest guest recipe comes from the wonderfully talented Phoebe Liebling, and it looks absolutely stunning. We can’t wait to try this one for ourselves. Check out her Instagram for more @_naturalnourishment

Ingredients: (Serves 2-3)

For the polenta:

125g Organico instant polenta

750ml water

1 organic stock cube

1 teaspoon dried oregano

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

For the rest of the dish:

3-4 king oyster mushrooms

250g enoki mushrooms (you can easily just use chopped regular mushrooms)

2 large courgettes

1 heaped tablespoon

Organico vegan pesto

A large handful fresh parsley

coconut oil

salt & pepper

Method:

Prepare your veggies – halve the oyster mushrooms down their length and use the tip of a sharp knife to create a cross hatch scoring pattern over the cut edge. Use your finger to very lightly grease the cut edge with coconut oil and season with salt and pepper.

Use a vegetable peeler to create ribbons from one of the courgettes, and then finely dice the other into very small chunks. Pop the ribbons into a bowl and toss with the pesto. Finely chop the parsley and leave to one side.

Add the water, stock cube and oregano to a large pan and gently bring to the boil.

Heat a large sauté pan on a medium heat and when you can feel the heat rising from the pan (hold your hand 5cm above) place the oyster mushrooms in, cut side down. Leave to cook gently for 3 minutes.

Once boiling add the polenta to the water and whisk well to combine, it will thicken quickly, just keep whisking for a couple of minutes until smooth, then leave to bubble gently stirring to prevent sticking. Add the nutritional yeast and seasoning, fold through and turn the heat off, covering with a lid to keep warm.

Flip your oyster mushrooms once golden and cover with a lid. Cook for 2 minutes.

Remove the oyster mushrooms and add the cubed courgettes to the pan – you’re just looking to colour them but want them to retain their texture so literally toss them about for 30 seconds or so then tip in the bowl with the courgette ribbons and pesto.

Add the enoki mushrooms to the hot pan, cover with a lid, turn the heat off and let them just lightly steam for a minute then add to the courgettes and mix to coat everything in the pesto.

To serve add generous spoonfuls of the polenta to bowls, twirl in the courgette mixture and lay those beautiful oyster mushrooms centre stage. Sprinkle with the fresh parsley and dive in!