Name: Courgette, Anchovy, Pecorino and Basil Salad
Yield: makes 12
Ingredients: 2 salted anchovies, or 4 drained anchovy fillets in oil, roughly chopped; salt; 80 g polenta grains, sieved; 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; ¼ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest and 2 teaspoons lemon juice; 320 ml water or vegetable stock; vegetable oil for frying; 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (I used a mixture of brown and black seeds); handful of basil leaves, torn or shredded; 80 g Pecorino Sardo, coarsely grated; 25 g butter, at room temperature, or 1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 large courgette, cut into 1cm dice; 1 spring onion, thinly sliced

Preparation info

makes
12

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Salads

By Peter Gordon

Published 2005

About

This salad also makes a great ravioli filling and goes well with grilled mackerel, salmon or tuna as a salsa to accompany a main course. Versatile stuff! If you can’t find Pecorino Sardo (aged firm Pecorino), use Parmesan or some other firm tasty cheese.

For the polenta, I would use the instant type rather than the traditional ‘cook-for-45-minutes-while-stirring’ variety that I used to use when I started my apprenticeship 23 years ago! It is hard to make the exact amount of polenta