Polenta with spinach and soft-poached egg

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 people, you will need:

• 1 50 g shallot
• 2 4 Poached eggs
• 3 200 g Polenta
• 4 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 40 g butter
• 6 1 glass dry white wine
• 7 150 ml liquid cream
• 8 300 g cooked spinach
• 9 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 10 salt
• 11 pepper
• Total weight: 1,100 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
45 min.	26 min.	1 hour 11 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Poach the eggs Prepare 4 Poached eggs and set aside where they will stay hot. Heat plates.
2	Prepare the polenta cakes Prepare the polenta, spread out approximately 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick and leave to cool.
3	Use a cutter to cut out 8 cm (3 inch) circles...
4	...allowing one circle per person. Collect up the trimmings of polenta and save for another recipe.
5	Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into a frying pan on high heat and when hot, add the polenta cakes. Cook until nicely browned on both sides. Set aside and keep hot.
6	Make the shallot sauce Prepare 50 g shallot and dice very small.
7	Melt 40 g butter in a small saucepan on medium heat, then add the chopped shallot, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute without colouring.
8	Pour in 1 glass dry white wine and leave to reduce by 3/4.
9	Add 150 ml liquid cream and leave on low heat to thicken. Check seasoning.
10	Reheat the spinach Meanwhile, reheat 300 g cooked spinach with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan on low heat.
11	Assemble the dish Place a polenta cake on each of the hot serving plates.
12	Place the cutter over the polenta while you arrange the spinach on top. Press this gently into place...
13	...and remove the cutter. This method ensures a neat circle of spinach, just the right size.
14	Place a hot poached egg on top.
15	Pour the shallot sauce over and serve immediately. For a little dramatic effect, like in the photo, you can split the egg to let some yolk run out just before serving.

Remarks

The tricky part of this recipe is the timing: getting everything ready at the same time so that the different elements (egg, spinach, polenta, sauce) are hot when assembled.
If you prefer a smoother sauce, you can strain it to remove the bits of shallots before adding the cream.

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