Sunday: Baked polenta dumplings and cauliflower

The polenta dumpling recipe came from this month's Le Menu. The original recipe called for it to be served on a bed of zucchini, but we had cauliflower instead, so I used that. :-) I did a bit of monkeying around with the seasonings of the dumplings but otherwise stuck more or less to the recipe.

Bring a mixture of 4dl milk and 4dl water slowly to a boil with a couple of bay leaves. Remove the bay leaves and whisk in 200g fine polenta along with a couple good pinches of salt, some cayenne, and plenty of black pepper. Cook, stirring frequently until it's a thick paste. Add freshly grated nutmeg and 50g of grated gruyere, mix well, adjust seasonings, then remove from the heat and let cool.

Put some light cream in the bottom of a baking dish and add a layer of sliced (1cm) cauliflower. Season well and add more light cream as necessary. Form dumplings from the polenta (I used my wet hands, but theoretically you can do it with two spoons) and put them on top of the cauliflower. Dot with butter, sprinkle over strips of thinly sliced dried ham, then bake at 190C for about 35 minutes.

Together with a big green salad this made for a very nice meal.