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1
Begin by blanching the leek. Cut it in half and place in a pan of boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes then remove and allow to dry out. There's no need to plunge the leek into iced water for this recipe.
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2
Place your griddle pan over a high heat for 2-3 minutes or until it starts to smoke
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3
Half the leek again lengthways and lightly coat both the leek and chopped cauliflower in a drizzle of oil, season with salt and black pepper before placing onto the smoking hot griddle
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4
Allow to char for 2-3 minutes before turning and doing the same to the other side. You can add in the hazelnuts at this stage as well, lightly toasting them until golden
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5
Prepare the garlic pesto, either by muddling all ingredients with a pestle and mortar and or by blitzing in a blender
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6
Pull the charred leeks apart and place in a bowl with the courgette ribbons and cauliflower and lightly coat in pesto
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7
For the polenta add your water to a large saucepan then once it's almost boiling reduce the heat and slowly pour in the polenta. If you do this very gradually you'll avoid any lumps forming.
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8
NOTE - Ensure that you're stirring the whole time when pouring the polenta in, this again will ensure you don't get lumps
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9
Cook for around 7-10 minutes until the grainy texture of the polenta has gone, you can check this by rubbing a little between your fingers
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10
Add in the butter and cream (still stirring) along with the Parmesan. Have a taste at this stage and add in the seasoning according to taste. I find you need a fair bit of seasoning with polenta despite there being a tonne of cheese in here.
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11
Finish by serving up the polenta onto a large platter. Add on the charred pesto vegetables, some extra generous dollops of the garlic pesto and sprinkle over the toasted hazelnuts and a little lemon zest plus an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of salt flakes and black pepper and finally serve
