Mini Polenta Pizzas
Polenta is golden-yellow cornmeal made from ground maize & makes a good base for gluten-free pizzas.
Prep Time:
25 minutes
Cook Time:
15 minutes plus 25 minutes for the sauce
Serves:
4
Suitable for Freezing
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Ingredients
Base
- 750 ml hot vegetable stock
- 190 g instant polenta
- 60 g freshly grated parmesan
- salt and pepper, to season
Filling
- 4 tbsp Annabel's vegetable sauce, or use a jar of pasta sauce
- 60 g cheddar or mozzarella cheese, grated
- plus toppings of your choice, such as strips of ham, pepper or tomato
Hidden vegetable tomato sauce
- 1 large shallot, finely chopped
- 1/2 small leek, thinly chopped
- 1 small carrot, peeled and grated
- 1/4 courgette, grated
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small garlic clove, crushed
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tbsp sundried tomato puree
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1x400g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 1 1/2 tsp caster sugar
- salt and pepper
Method
- To make the polenta base, bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a large pan and pour in the polenta in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Cook, stirring, until the polenta is thick- around 3–5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan plus salt and pepper to taste. Spread the polenta out on to a lightly oiled baking sheet to around £1 coin (1/2 cm/1/4 in) thickness. Leave to cool, then chill until set, around 1 hour.
- To make the ‘Hidden Vegetable Tomato Sauce’. Put the vegetables in a large saucepan with the oil and sauté for 8–10 minutes until the vegetables are soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then transfer to a blender. Add the purées, ketchup, tomatoes, and sugar and whiz until smooth. Return to the pan and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes until thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper and allow to cool slightly.
- Pre-heat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Cut out 4 large circles using a 9 cm (3 1/2 in) cutter (alternatively, cut the base into a pretty shape, like the flower shapes in the photograph). Top each pizza with 1 tablespoonful of sauce and some grated cheese. Add any other toppings that you like. Transfer the pizzas to a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for 13–15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling.
- You can freeze these pizzas already assembled and bake from frozen, adding 2–3 minutes to the cooking time.
