Polenta breakfast bowl with smoky tomatoes & fried eggs

Elly Curshen's recipe is for a smooth, cheesy polenta speckled with fragrant basil, served with smoky, charred paprika tomatoes and fried eggs. Not only do you save on washing up by using the same pan twice, but also get the delicious garlicky, tomato and paprika flavour on the fried eggs.

Ingreadient

• 1 tbsp vegetable bouillon powder
• 150g Polenta Valsugana
• 10g unsalted butter
• 20g Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
• 50g extra mature Cheddar, grated
• ¼ x 25g pack basil, most leaves ripped up, few small whole leaves to serve
• 2 tsp olive oil, plus 1 tbsp for frying
• 270g pack cherry vine tomatoes
• 1 clove/s garlic, finely grated
• ½ tsp sea salt flakes
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 eggs (No.1 Longstock Gold Free Range are perfect here)

Step by step

1. Bring 750ml water to the boil in a large saucepan and whisk in the bouillon. Add the polenta to the boiling stock and stir continuously with the whisk over a medium heat for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. Add the butter, cheeses and basil and stir well to combine. Season well with black pepper (it probably won’t need salt, but you decide), then set aside, covered with a lid, to keep warm and allow the cheeses to melt.
3. In a separate frying pan, add 1 tsp oil and place over a high heat. Add the tomatoes, then leave undisturbed for about 3 minutes to allow them to char and blister.
4. Give the pan a shake and add 1 tsp oil, the garlic, sea salt and paprika. Lower the heat. Swirl for a minute until the garlic and paprika smell fragrant. Remove from the heat.
5. Tip the tomatoes into a bowl and cover with a plate to keep warm. Don’t wash the pan. In the same pan, fry the eggs to your liking in 1 tbsp oil. Serve the tomatoes and eggs on the polenta, with extra basil to garnish.