I love meals that you can eat any time of the day, take minimal effort and are relatively cheap to make! This is one of those meals. I’ve had it for lunch, dinner and brunch (so basically breakfast) and it’s perfectly satisfying every time! This also means I’ve sort of posted two brunch recipes this week… everyone loves brunch though right?

There’s something so comforting about the runny egg yolk mixing in with that cheesy polenta, sweet tomatoes and crispy kale. it’s all the textures you want and you technically can eat the whole thing with just a fork, no cutting needed. You could even just serve it all in a bowl and curl up on the couch with some Netflix on and be all cosy and stuff. That’s my kind of easy food.

I actually first made this as I wanted eggs but had run out of bread, and rice (my usual options for under eggs). But had found polenta when I was cleaning out the cupboard a couple of days before hand. And I was so happy with it that I’ve made it 3 times in a week.

Side note, if you like these simple Royal Doulton Olio white plates you can get 10% off through the Temple and Webster website woohoo.

This is one of these recipes that involves a little multi tasking so that everything is ready at the same time. The recipe is super simple in practice but you are switching between doing things so just give the whole thing a read through before you start. While the polenta cooks you will need to stir it rather frequently. At the same time you will be cooking the other components in another pan. There’s no flipping of these other things and minimal attention required so it’s all pretty simple. It should all be ready in 20 minutes!

If you want to make it for more people just use a bigger fry pan and multiply ingredients as needed.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 cups water (or 1 cup water, 1 cup stock)

1/2 cup polenta

1 tsp olive oil

2 Tbs Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated

1 Tbs olive oil

2 cups shredded kale, rinsed

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

4 eggs

1/2 an avocado, finely sliced

2 Tbs flat leaf parsley, finely chopped (to  serve, optional)

2 lemon wedges, to serve (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius.

Bring water to the boil in a small pot (4 cup capacity is fine), add a pinch of salt (omit if using stock) and add the polenta. Whisk the polenta and water together. Add 1 tsp olive oil. Turn the temperature down to low and cook, stirring frequently for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a medium fry pan over medium high heat. Add the kale and salt. Toss in the olive oil and move to one side of the pan. Add the halved tomatoes to the other side and allow both to cook for 5-10 minutes,until kale is crisping up and tomatoes are blistered, stirring occasionally.

Move the tomatoes and kale to a heat proof bowl and place in the oven to keep warm.

Do not wipe out the pan as you will use the residual oil to cook the eggs. Crack the eggs into your pan, don’t worry if the whites are touching,  and turn the heat to medium.

At this point you should be ready to add the cheese to your polenta (it should have been cooking for 15 minutes on low and be thick and creamy). Stir in the cheese and continue to cook the polenta on very low heat, stirring frequently, while your eggs cook.

When the whites of your eggs are almost set place a lid on the pan and cook for 30 more seconds covered, turn off the heat and leave covered until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny (max 1 minute).

To serve: Scoop the polenta on to your plates. Top with the avocado, eggs, crispy kale and blistered tomatoes. add a sprinkle of parsley and a lemon wedge to each plate if using. Finish with black pepper. YUM!

HH. x

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