Yotam Ottolenghi's Sweet Corn Polenta with Eggplant Sauce


How to make eggplant turn to silk: use more oil than you think you need (you'll get to drain away most of it after).

See?

Noisy ingredient #1: tomato paste. Also white wine, oregano.

Add the chopped tomatoes, water, salt, sugar and oregano and cook for a further 5 minutes to get a deep-flavored sauce. Set aside; warm it up when needed.

Next, get to your corn.

Here's Kristen's weird way of shaving corn off the cob. It makes fewer kernels go flying.

Might as well milk the cobs for all the sweetness they've got -- use the back side of the knife.

Just simmer the kernels in a little water. Save the broth.

Process them for quite a few minutes, to break as much of the kernel case as possible. Add some of the cooking liquid if the mixture becomes too dry to process.

Now return the corn paste to the pan with the cooking liquid and cook down until the mixture thickens to mashed potato consistency. (Or just skip adding them back to the broth -- your call...

Fold in the butter...

...the feta. It's a surprisingly perfect match for corn's Sandra Dee sweetness. (Think Danny Zuko.)

Divide the polenta among shallow bowls and spoon some warm eggplant sauce in the center.
Author Notes: In its entirety, this is a recipe that works and is really, really good. But it's also full of ideas you can parcel out as you see fit -- namely: polenta doesn't have to be born out of dry goods. Fresh corn, cooked quickly, breaks down to a sweet soup in the food processor. Adapted slightly from Ottolenghi's Plenty (Chronicle Books, 2011).
—Genius Recipes
Serves 4
Eggplant Sauce
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 medium eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch dice
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chopped peeled tomatoes (fresh or canned)
- 6 1/2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped oregano
- Heat up the oil in a large saucepan and fry the eggplant on medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until nicely brown. Drain off as much oil as you can and discard it -- the safest way to do this is to scoop out the eggplant to a plate using a slotted spoon, then pour off the oil into a bowl before adding the eggplant back in. You can save the oil to fry lamb chops or eggs in tomorrow.
- Add the tomato paste to the pan and stir with the eggplant. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the wine and cook for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, water, salt, sugar and oregano and cook for a further 5 minutes to get a deep-flavored sauce. Set aside; warm it up when needed.
Polenta
- 6 ears of corn
- 2 1/4 cups water
- 3 tablespoons butter, diced
- 7 ounces feta, crumbled
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Black pepper
- Remove the leaves and "silk" from each ear of corn, then chop off the pointed top and stalk. Use a sharp knife to shave off the kernels -- either stand each ear upright on its base and shave downward, or lay each ear on its side on a cutting board to slice off the kernels. You want to have 1 1/4 pounds kernels.
- Place the kernels in a medium saucepan and barely cover them with the water. Cook for 12 minutes on a low simmer. Use a slotted spoon to lift the kernels from the water and into a food processor; reserve the cooking liquid.
- Process them for quite a few minutes, to break as much of the kernel case as possible. Add some of the cooking liquid if the mixture becomes too dry to process.
- Now return the corn paste to the pan with the cooking liquid and cook, while stirring, on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to mashed potato consistency. (Be aware that if you have a lot of liquid left in the pan, it can take a while to cook down the polenta, and it will sputter. Consider holding back some or all of the liquid. Alternately, if you like the consistency after processing, you can skip to step 5.)
- Fold in the butter, the feta, salt and some pepper and optionally cook for a further 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
More Great Recipes:
Entree|Vegetarian|Summer
Showing out of comments
3 months ago Nashi
A dissenting view -- despite loving most Ottolenghi recipes we didn't like this one at all! Found the sweet corn polenta to be too sweet, I think normal polenta would be better. And overall was just too much mush. If you can figure out a way to add more crunch or texture do that (maybe some nuts or seeds? or have it on the side with something else?).
6 months ago Tracey Wade
Fantastic, thank you!
9 months ago caninechef
I also just made this for the first time. Eggplant was similar but a bit of an upgrade from a standard household recipe. The corn was wonderful though I used many of the tips below ( microwave, immersion blender). Perhaps the original version comes out silkier but I loved the results I got in no more time than it took to make the eggplant sauce. I have to wonder if the original version is geared toward the commercial kitchen and does not hold any real advantages for the household cook making 2-4 servings at a time. It seems other restaurant recipes that have also appeared here have the same issue, techniques that make sense in a commercial setting but are overkill for the home cook.
9 months ago stephanieRD
Made the recipe exactly as it was...EXCEPT what I thought was a container of frozen tomatoes leftover turned out to be some marinara (hah, freezer burn got the label), but it still turned out fantastic. My food at-home food critic raved about it. Served this alongside a pork tenderloin and it was a lovely Sunday dinner.
about 1 year ago Cheryl
Very good. I would double the eggplant part of the recipe next time and cook it a little longer. I made regular polenta.
over 1 year ago nancy401
I use the corn right off the cob without cooking it before it is pureed. I then add water in at the cooking stage to get the consistency I want. Much faster and very flavourful. This method depends on having very fresh summer sweet corn, preferably from the field that day. Red wine in the sauce also works well. This is hands down my favourite summer corn recipe.
over 1 year ago Joanna
Thank you for the suggestion! I was thinking of doing something similar with the corn that I bought today from a local farm. I didn't want to over cook that delicious corn. Can't wait to try this for dinner tonight.
over 1 year ago Muriel Elliott Mimura
I cooked 1/2 cup of "true" polenta and added the whole corn kernels to that. I will definitely make it again.
over 1 year ago Joan Kasson
I made this with all the vegetables picked fresh today. Turned out fantastic. I didn’t think the eggplant was too oily at all. Ended up pouring off quite a bit of oil at the end of the sauteeing part. The only changes I would make are to the instructions: first note that a medium eggplant probably should weigh about a pound, and second, the number of ears of corn should be limited to however many will provide the 1.25 lbs of kernels required in the recipe body. My ears were so big, I ended up with over 9 oz of corn kernels left after I measured out the 1.25 lbs. specified using only four ears.
about 2 years ago eveross
if you roast the eggplant for this recipe, do you dice it before roasting? Someone said 20 minutes at 400 degrees....its fabulous as written, but roasting is healthier than frying and I want to make this again!
over 2 years ago julita84
Although this dish was tasty, it was much richer and heavier than I had imagined. Also, I used frozen corn kernels, and the consistency of the polenta didn't reach the desired thickness: I added a bit of flour, which helped a lot.
over 2 years ago LoveToCook
This is absolutely delicious. I used only farm fresh ingredients from the market. Both husband and son enjoyed it. Yummy!
over 2 years ago Cypripedium
I made this dish and it is wonderful! However, I handled the sweet corn quite differently by cutting it off the cob, making sure to scraping the cob to get all of the juicy "milk." All of this went into a microwave-safe glass bowl and, after adding just a couple of tablespoons of water, I covered it and cooked it on high in the microwave for about 5 minutes. I then broke down the cooked corn in the food processor as directed and put it on the stove to reduce. I will continue to prepare it this way in the future. It simplifies the process, captures all of the corn's goodness, and eliminates the need to cook away so much excess water.
over 1 year ago Jaimie McNeice
This was a wonderful suggestion, especially for summer when it's too hot to cook anyway. I followed your directions but needed to microwave about 10 minutes. I also used cream cheese, since I didn't have feta, and it was divine!
over 2 years ago George Strong
Don't waste the corn cobs, they make excellent broth, just put them in a sauce pan, breaking them if necessary, barely cover with water, and simmer for 30 minutes or more. You can add excess liquid from the fresh corn polenta you're making. Corn cob broth makes an excellent base for soups of all kinds. It's sweet, so it lends itself to tart and savory additions, such as sherry or balsamic vinegar, tamarind paste, etc. The broth can be greatly reduced, if you wish. To store it, I bring it to a boil, pour into a quart canning jar, seal, let cool, and store refrigerated for up to a month.
over 1 year ago petalpusher
I love this idea! Corn cob broth. Thank you.
almost 3 years ago Alyssa
Just made this tonight, and I've decided I could eat this polenta everyday for every meal forever. Seriously divine. I used fresh summer sweet corn, and only used half the feta called for (it was all I had). Still rich and fabulous. Made the eggplant sauce as is, and it's also delicious. I used fresh cherry tomatoes, though I think I might actually try canned San Marzano tomatoes next time to add a little more zing to the flavor. Awesome recipe, worth the effort.
almost 3 years ago Chicgail
I'm freezing the extra sweet corn water. It's too good to throw away. I figure it'll be fabulous in a chowder.
almost 3 years ago Lusty Dish
Does anyone know if the oregano is fresh or dried?? Thinking fresh.. Suggestions are welcome.
almost 3 years ago cookbookchick
As it's calling for chopped oregano, use fresh. You probably know that dried oregano versus fresh oregano are completely different tastes. Also, a tablespoon of dried oregano in this recipe would be way too much. If you have only dried, start with maybe a teaspoon at most and taste the mixture before you add more.
over 2 years ago 808GRINDS
I used (freeze) dried oregano as it was what I had on hand. Cookbookchick is right ... use less than what you would with fresh herbs. I also suggest you pour the dried herbs in the palm of your hands and rub together to release the oils!
over 2 years ago cookbookchick
Yes!
almost 3 years ago Tbird
AMAZING. The Feta made this so creamy. In fact, my kids thought the polenta had the consistency - and even flavor - of scrambled eggs (in a good way!) I used someone's suggestion of using an immersion hand blender, rather than a food processor. This left us with a creamy base, and great kernels of fresh corn. It was like a creamed corn, but so much better! I think next time, I might use red wine (or balsamic) to add a bit more "kick" to the eggplant, but it was amazing as is. Thanks for the recipe!
over 3 years ago Marissa
Is it possible to use a sweet wine instead of a dry wine? I don't like dry wine and I want to buy a wine I'll drink after I use it. Maybe if I omit the sugar or add some sort of vinegar to balance the sweetness?
over 3 years ago sevenfaces
This dish as a whole is gorgeous but the fresh sweet corn polenta with feta and butter stirred through is my new favourite thing of all time. SO GOOD. I poured the corn broth out of the pot and used an immersion blender for a slightly less fiddly work flow, and only poured about a quarter back in. Thinking of what to do with the rest now!
over 3 years ago Christina Scannuccio
HO-LY COW this was awesome. I had a pound of Japanese eggplant from the CSA, so I upped to about two cups of tomatoes and about a quarter-cup water. If the sauce gets a little dry while it sits, heat it up with another splash of wine. Also, if the feta comes in an 8-oz package, that extra little ounce in the polenta won't hurt anyone ;)
Showing 26 out of 94 comments