Almond meal gives a delicious nuttiness to this polenta and parmesan crumb, which also makes a great gluten-free alternative to breadcrumbs – try it with escalopes of veal.

Ingredients

200 gm fine polenta

60 gm (¾ cup) finely grated parmesan

120 gm (1 cup) almond meal

3 eggs, beaten

4 small chicken breasts, tenderloins removed, pounded flat

Vegetable oil, for shallow-frying

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

½ head radicchio, coarsely shredded

Herb butter

150 gm salted butter, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely grated

2 tbsp coarsely chopped oregano

1 tbsp coarsely chopped sage

1 tbsp coarsely chopped thyme

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

Method

1.Preheat oven to 100°C. For herb butter, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until butter is infused with the flavour of the herbs (5 minutes). Keep warm.

2.Combine polenta and parmesan in a bowl and season to taste. Place almond meal and eggs in separate bowls and season almond meal to taste. Dust chicken with almond meal, shake off excess, coat with egg, then press into polenta mixture to coat and place on an oven tray lined with baking paper.

3.Heat 2cm vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Fry chicken in batches, turning occasionally, until golden and cooked through (5-6 minutes). Drain on paper towels, then transfer to a wire rack set on an oven tray and keep warm while you cook remaining chicken.

4.Whisk olive oil and vinegar in a bowl, add radicchio, season to taste and toss to coat. Cut chicken into pieces and serve with herb butter and radicchio.

Maxwell Adey Senior Food Editor & Stylist

Maxwell has always been passionate about food. Born into a restaurateur and award-winning produce farming family, he was strongly steered into pursuing a career in advertising after completing his Bachelor of Public Communication at University of Technology, Sydney. After a very short stint, he decided to enrol in Commercial Cookery at TAFE to follow his true passion. Maxwell started out working in some of Sydney’s finest restaurants (Est., Claude’s and Moon Park) which helped further his love of all things culinary and developed his technical ability to cook. Later, he was lured into the magical world of food publishing where he freelanced for ten years for notable Australian commercial and editorial brands. He has also run his own business where he sells his marinated olives, dressings and sauces at food markets and select retailers. He excitingly joins the Gourmet Traveller team to bring his technical and creative expertise in food to the brand.

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Styling by Kirsten Bookallil

Ingredients

Method

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