Ingredients

  • Pumpkin 100g
  • Carrots 100g
  • Onion 1
  • SpinneysFOOD Diced Sweet Potato 100g
  • Garlic 2 cloves
  • SpinneysFOOD Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil 5 tbsp
  • SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt 2 tsp
  • SpinneysFOOD Black Pepper To taste
  • Red grape vinegar 4 tbsp
  • SpinneysFOOD Whole Black Peppercorns ½ tsp
  • Allspice berries 2
  • Clove 1
  • SpinneysFOOD Bay Leaf 1
  • SpinneysFOOD Organic Chopped Italian Tomatoes 1 x 400g tin
  • SpinneysFOOD Organic Baby Spinach A handful
  • SpinneysFOOD Vegetable Stock 600ml
  • Quick-cook polenta 160g
  • SpinneysFOOD Parmigiano Reggiano 40g
  • SpinneysFOOD Dried Oregano 2 tsp

Nutrition (Per serving)

  • Calories 386
  • Fat 16.2g
  • Saturates 5g
  • Protein 9.7g
  • Carbs 57.4g
  • Sugars 9.4g

Given the cook-at-home nature of Spinneys and natural variations in ingredients, nutritional information is approximated."

Crispy polenta fingers with veggie ketchup

Italian 30 Mins Prep · 60 Mins Cook


  1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC, gas mark 7. Grease and line a 24cm x 20cm tin with baking paper.
  2. Chop the pumpkin (or butternut) into small cubes. Roughly chop the carrots. Halve the onion (or leek). Place the diced sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, onion and garlic on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 3 tbsp of olive oil and season well. Roast for 20 minutes or until soft and caramelised.
  3. In a saucepan, heat the vinegar, peppercorns, allspice berries, clove and bay leaf. Gently simmer for 5 minutes then strain.
  4. Place the vegetables in a blender with the tinned tomatoes, strained vinegar mixture and baby spinach. Blitz until smooth. Pour the ketchup into a saucepan and simmer gently until reduced and thickened.
  5. Add the stock to a large pot and bring it to a boil. Slowly whisk 150g of polenta, stirring constantly. Add in more water, if necessary. The polenta should be creamy with a porridge-like consistency. Once thickened, finely grate in the cheese and stir in the oregano and a pinch of salt.
  6. Pour into the lined tin and place in the fridge to chill and firm up, approx. 1 hour.
  7. Slice the chilled polenta into fingers and brush with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Dust with the extra polenta. Arrange on a greased baking tray in a single layer and bake for 30 minutes, or until crisp and golden.
  8. Serve with the ketchup.