This bowl of quick-cook polenta and a poached egg is comfort food at its finest. It only takes 35 minutes to make, and works great as a mid-week meal, but can also work as a dinner party starter if you're looking for something different.
Green beans are cooked until tender, mixed with a pre-made jar of green pesto, and served with a cheesy, buttery and creamy polenta, all topped with a fresh poached egg.
If you've always struggled to poach eggs, take a look at our how-to video to get it right every time.
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Yields:
4 serving(s)
Prep Time:
20 mins
Cook Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
35 mins
Cal/Serv:
560
Ingredients
250 g fine green beans, trimmed
3 Tbsp. fresh basil pesto
500 ml milk
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
4 large eggs
200 g quick cook polenta
75 g Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese, grated
25 g butter
Directions
Step 1
Bring a large pan of water to boil and cook the beans for 4min until tender. Lift out beans with a slotted spoon and put into a bowl (reserve boiling water in the pan). Mix pesto into beans and cover with foil to keep warm.
Step 2
Meanwhile, in a separate large pan, bring milk and 500ml water to boil.
Step 3
Lower heat under reserved boiling water to a simmer. Add vinegar. Carefully crack in eggs, spaced apart. Poach for 4min, or until, when lifted out with a slotted spoon, the whites feel firm but yolks soft.
Step 4
While eggs are cooking, add polenta in a steady stream to boiling milk mixture, whisking for 1min. Remove from heat and whisk in cheese and butter (add more water to thin, if desired). Season.
Step 5
With a slotted spoon lift eggs on to kitchen paper to drain. Divide polenta among four bowls and top with the pesto beans and poached eggs.
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
