Recipe: Bacon, ricotta and spring onion polenta-base tart

Ingredients

Polenta base
625ml (2½ cups) water
200g polenta
90g parmesan, finely grated
1 egg
Salt to taste

Filling
250g streaky bacon, finely diced
200g ricotta, crumbled
3 spring onions, sliced
1 x 250g tub mascarpone
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
Mint leaves, to garnish
Lemon wedges, to squeeze

Method

1. For the polenta base, preheat the oven to 2000C. Grease a rectangular 35cm x 11cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Bring water to a boil. Add the polenta and whisk over medium heat until it becomes very thick, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the grated parmesan and allow to cool slightly, 5 minutes. Stir in the egg and mix well. Season to taste. Set aside to cool and thicken, about 15 minutes.

2. Fry the bacon until crispy, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. In a bowl, combine the crumbled ricotta, spring onion slices, mascarpone, garlic and slightly cooled bacon. Season to taste. Set aside at room temperature.

3. Returning to the polenta base, press the cooled polenta into the base and up the sides of the prepared tart tin. Trim and bake in the preheated oven, 30 – 40 minutes or until firm and lightly golden. Remove and allow to cool, 30 minutes, before removing from the tin and spreading the tart filling over the base. Serve at room temperature, garnished with mint leaves and extra spring onion slices, and lemon wedges.