Poached Egg And Stewed Lacinato Kale on Polenta With Chili-Butter

Poached Egg And Stewed Lacinato Kale on Polenta With Chili-Butter

Here, I’ve combined 4 things I love: poached eggs, polenta, stewed lacinato (Tuscan) kale, and chili butter. For me it’s a combination made in heaven, especially when the polenta soaks up the egg yolk….yum!

This is a great brunch recipe. For me, I could eat this for dinner as well. It takes about 30 minutes from start to finish and serves 2-4 people, depending on how many each person can eat. There are a few steps involved, but the different components will be cooking at the same time. The polenta roll can be found next to the pasta in the Italian section of a good supermarket.

Here’s what you’ll need for the stewed lacinato (Tuscan) kale:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bunches, or about 8 oz. of lacinato, or Tuscan kale, trimmed and chopped
• pinch of Aleppo pepper or crushed red pepper flakes
• pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of white pepper
• salt to taste
• 1 cup chicken stock or water

Here is what you’ll need for polenta:

• 4 slices of a pre-cooked polenta roll, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Here is what you’ll need for the poached egg:

• 6 cups water
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 4 eggs

Here’s what you’ll need for the chili butter:

• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper or red chili pepper flakes

Putting it all together:

First cook the kale. In a deep pot, heat the olive-oil over medium-high. Add the garlic and sauté for a 1 minute. Add the kale, white pepper, red chili pepper flakes, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly and cook for another minute. Add 1/2 of the chicken stock (or water), cover, and decrease heat to medium. Cook for 10 minutes. The liquid will mostly cook out. Add the rest of the chicken stock, mix well, and cook for a further 10 minutes. Be sure to watch that the kale doesn’t stick. If it does, add more liquid or decrease the heat.

While the kale cooks, make the poached eggs. Bring a medium pot of water and vinegar to a boil and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Crack an egg into a small bowl. With a spoon, stir the water to create a whirlpool and plop the egg into the middle. Leave the egg to cook for about 4 minutes for a runny yolk. Use a slotted spoon to gently coax each egg out of the pot. Do this with the next three eggs. Place each egg over the kale and polenta slices.

While you’re bringing the water for the poached eggs to a boil, work on the polenta and the chile-butter. Slice the polenta and add the olive oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the polenta for about 5 minutes on each side. Plate the polenta. Wipe the pan, add the butter and red chile pepper flakes and heat over medium-high. When it starts to bubble, turn off the heat.

Put it all together. On each polenta slice, place a mound of kale, then a poached egg. Finally, spoon the chili butter on top. Enjoy!