Nested eggs in baked polenta

You can serve this delicious dish straight from the pan – just be sure to warn your guests that the handle is piping hot!

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 150g polenta
• 480ml vegetable stock
• 480ml full-cream milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 115g smoked trout or salmon, chopped
• 285g goat’s cheese
• 1/2 cup packed chopped dill, hard stems removed
• 1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
• 6 eggs
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed if salt-packed (optional)
• lemon wedges, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

In a large bowl, mix together the polenta, stock, milk, butter and salt. Pour into a 30cm ovenproof frying pan, then carefully place in the middle of the oven but without a rack above it (so you can comfortably stir the mixture without having to remove the pan). Bake for 35–40 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the polenta has softened and thickened and all the liquid has been absorbed.

Take the pan out of the oven. Stir in the smoked trout or salmon and about two-thirds of the goat’s cheese, dill and spring onion (save the rest for garnish). Use the back of a large spoon to create six indents in the polenta. Crack an egg into each indent and sprinkle with the remaining goat’s cheese.

Heat the grill to its highest setting. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 5–10 minutes until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still a bit runny, and the goat’s cheese is bubbly and golden.

Garnish with remaining dill and spring onion and serve with capers, if using, and lemon wedges.

This recipe is extracted from The Miller’s Daughter: Unusual flours & heritage grains, published by Hardie Grant Books and available from March 2, 2022.