Cheese and basil pesto polenta chips recipe

Your family are going to love these polenta chips. They’re so simple to make and are packed full of flavour too. The pesto adds a great depth of flavour to each polenta based chip. Serve with homemade tomato ketchup and watch them disappear in minutes. This recipe makes 26 chunky chips but you can make smaller ones if preferred.

Ingredients

• Knob of butter
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 720ml water
• 160g course polenta
• 120g mature cheddar cheese
• 3tsp green pesto

Method

1. Preheat oven 240°C/475°F/Gas Mark 9. Gently fry the garlic in butter in a large saucepan for 1-2 minutes.
2. Measure 720ml of boiling water and add to the saucepan
3. Quickly pour the polenta into the water whisking as you go. Simmer for 15 minutes on the hob. You will need to stay near and stir every couple of minutes until its done.
4. Meanwhile place a layer of tin foil in a baking tray and butter it. When the polenta has cooked for 15 minutes stir in the cheese and give it a good mix to ensure its evenly distributed.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tray to the thickness of 15mm. Don’t worry if your tray is too big, as the polenta doesn’t run far. It generally fills just over half of my 35cm by 25cm tin.
6. Leave to cool for 20-30 minutes, then transfer to your freezer for 20- 30 minutes.
7. Take the tray out of the freezer and slice the polenta into chunky chip shapes and separate each one. Bake in a hot and pre-heated oven for 30 minutes or until a lovely brown and crispy. While they are in the oven they will need turning to crisp all edges.
8. Serve with your favourite sauce or dip or as a carbohydrate accompaniment for a meal.