Sweetcorn polenta with sausage ragout

If you can, use fresh sweetcorn for this but, failing that, 450g frozen corn will have to do. Italian sausages are coarse in texture, and are often seasoned with fennel or aniseed. Get yours from a deli, if possible; Italian-style sausages are also sold in most big supermarkets these days, but they’re not quite the same in terms of quality. Otherwise, use a plain coarse sausage and add a teaspoon and a half of fennel seeds to the pan. Serves four.

3-4 corn cobs (700g), husks removed
500ml chicken stock
20g unsalted butter
Salt
100g instant polenta
1 tbsp olive oil
200g black pudding, cut into 8 1cm-thick rounds (optional)
6 Italian sausages, skin removed and discarded, meat broken into 2cm pieces 
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp rose harissa (or another savoury chilli paste)
6 large plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled and flesh roughly chopped
50g coriander sprigs, tied with string, plus 5g coriander leaves, to serve

Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Cook the sweetcorn cobs for five minutes, until just cooked (if using frozen corn, do not cook it) and drain. When cool enough to handle, hold each cob vertically on a board and use a sharp knife to shave off the kernels. You should end up with about 450g.

Put a medium saucepan on a high heat with the stock, 100ml water, butter and half a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat to medium, add the polenta and corn, and stir constantly for three minutes, until the mix is the consistency of thick porridge. Blitz the mixture into a smooth porridge (I prefer to use a stick blender rather than a food processor for this), then set aside. If need be, reheat just before serving.

On a medium-high flame, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan for which you have a lid. Fry the black pudding for four minutes, turning once halfway through, until just cooked through, then lift from the pan. Add the sausage meat and onion and fry for eight minutes, stirring a few times, until the meat is golden-brown and the onion is soft. Stir in the garlic and spices, and cook for two more minutes before adding the tomato paste, harissa, tomatoes, 300ml water, the coriander bundle and a third of a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat to medium, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for 10-15 minutes longer, until the sauce is nicely thick and rich, then remove from the heat and discard the coriander.

When you are ready to serve, spoon the warm sweetcorn polenta into individual bowls. Top with the ragout, followed by two slices of black pudding per serving (heat these through in the pan, if you like). Serve at once, with a final sprinkle of coriander.