This recipe feels quite special to me. I was lucky enough to style Bee Wilson’s cookbook, The Secret of Cooking, in 2022. I cooked my way through the book and made this recipe so many times that I thought it only right to share it …
Bee writes: “This was one of the recipes I made for myself on repeat after my husband left and each time it seemed to piece me back together. The key touch, in my view, is a tiny dash of vinegar at the very end to brighten things”
So, here is a recipe from both Bee and me. A combination of hers with a few tweaks for you to cook next time you’re home alone. If you don’t have polenta, it’s great with pasta, mashed potato, a jacket potato or simply piled on to buttered toast. @kittycoles
Serves 1
Ingredients
30g butter or olive oil
2 good quality sausages squeezed out of their skins
150g cavolo nero (Italian kale) or any greens such as kale, savoy cabbage or spinach, finely chopped and any tough stalks removed
1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
A pinch of fennel seeds, crushed with the back of a knife or pestle and mortar • A few thyme or sage leaves, chopped
A tiny dash of vinegar or juice of half a lemon
40g quick-cook polenta
100ml milk
A generous grating of parmesan
Method
1. Melt half the butter or oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the sausage meat and cook until well browned. Add the greens, garlic, fennel seeds and thyme or sage and then cook until wilted.
2. Taste the greens. If they’re not tender, add a spoonful of water and put a lid on the pan for a minute. Keep doing this until the greens are cooked to your liking. Add a tiny dash of vinegar. Meanwhile, combine the polenta with 150ml of water, 100ml milk and a pinch of salt in a small to medium pan and cook over a medium heat, whisking, until thick.
3. Stir the remaining butter or oil into the polenta and add the parmesan to taste. Serve in a shallow bowl with the sausage and greens mixture on top.