I picked up some lovely ears of corn this week and put one to good use in a summery cornbread. I did try to make it dairy free so we could all eat it but there’s nothing I could find to satisfactorily replace the buttermilk which is pretty essential. I think it’s nice to throw in another veg or two, but quite frankly, I've had enough of courgettes and went with a sweet romano pepper though red onion or thinly sliced leeks would have been lovely too.
I don’t have a cast iron skillet so just use my trusty old griddle pan which always does a great job.
Red Pepper Cornbread
Prepare: 15 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Serves 6
1 tbsp sunflower oil
225g polenta
125g plain flour
1 tsp fine salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 small romano pepper, thinly sliced
Sweetcorn kernels sliced from one large corn on the cob
25g butter, melted, plus extra for dotting over
175ml milk
2 eggs
284ml carton buttermilk
1 Brush a griddle or skillet with oil and put in the oven. Heat the oven to 190C, gas mark 5.
2 Stir together the polenta, flour, salt, paprika, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. Reserve a handful of the sliced pepper and sweetcorn then stir in the remainder.
3 Whisk together the melted butter, milk and eggs. Add to the polenta mixture along with the buttermilk. Mix well together then pour into the hot pan. Scatter over the reserved pepper and corn and return to the oven for 35 minutes until risen and golden-brown.
4 Dot the top of the cornbread with a little extra butter and leave to sit for a few moments then cut into squares and serve warm. Any leftovers are wonderful toasted.