Wild Herbs Polenta

Every year, we are delighted like tiny tots to sow our herbs and vegetables. The balcony is whipped into shape and every year some pots and boxes are added. When everything is ripe we have barely a place to sit but until then we have several months. Even if the range of vegetables grows bit by bit in spring, there are already plenty of herbs which are not only healthy but also for free! Of course, before you start collecting them you need to inform yourself and also wash the plants thoroughly. However, we all recognize stinging nettle, dandelion, and daisies, don’t we? If you don’t like the bitter note of some of the wild herbs you should take the very young leaflets. You can also put the dandelions in salt water for 20 minutes detract the bitterns. We like to eat the herbs in salad, as pesto, or chopped in polenta. We’d like to present you a delicious recipe from our cookbook. By the way, you can vary the size of the pan for gratinating the polenta. The bigger, the crispier the polenta, the smaller, the more fluffy inside.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C air circulation). Grease a springform pan (Ø 24 cm). Wash the spinach and the herbs (except for the sage) and shake until dry. Pluck the leaves – for the stinging nettles you preferably wear kitchen gloves. Roughly chop the herbs and the spinach. Peel and finely dice the shallot.
Boil up the vegetable broth and thoroughly salt it. Stir in the polenta and let it well at low heat for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp virgin olive oil and sauté the herbs and spinach at low heat until it collapses. Season the herbs with salt and pepper, and gently fold it in the polenta. Fill everything in the pan and bake it for about 20 minutes until the polenta is slightly crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.
In the meantime, wash the sage and gently dab it dry. Roughly grind the coriander seeds. Wipe the pan, heat the remaining 4 tbsp of olive oil and sauté the sage at medium heat until crispy. Lift out the leaflets and degrease them on kitchen paper. Now, add the coriander and mustard seeds to the oil and shortly let them to draw. Spread the sage and spicy oil on the ready polenta, and let the polenta cake cool down a bit before cutting.