Meals for Under £10: Golden Cornbread with Smashed Avocado & Crispy Bacon

CORNBREAD is a favourite in many American homes and there are hundreds of different recipes for it.

This version uses polenta, which is boiled cornmeal. It doesn’t sound very appetising, but it’s easy to make and actually delicious.

Once you add bacon and your own favourites to serve it with, you won’t be able to get enough.

Thanks to Lyle’s for this week’s recipe.

You’ll need:

120g fine polenta

125g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

115g butter

60g Tate & Lyle Light Muscovado Sugar

2 tbsp Lyle’s Golden Syrup

1 large egg

100g natural yogurt

140ml milk

For the topping

8 rashers streaky bacon

2 ripe avocados, halved, pitted and peeled

Lyle’s Golden Syrup, for drizzling

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6/400F. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

Mix the polenta, flour, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl.

Melt the butter, without letting it get too hot. Tip it into a bowl and stir in the sugar and syrup. Add the egg, yogurt and milk, then beat well. Stir into the polenta mix until combined, though avoid over-beating.

Pour into the tin and bake for 20-25 mins until set and golden, with slightly crispy edges. Use a fine skewer to check it is cooked through. Cool slightly before cutting into pieces.

For the topping, grill the bacon until crisp. Meanwhile, mash the avocados. Serve the cornbread with mashed avocado and streaky bacon, drizzled with a little Lyle’s Golden Syrup. Cook’s tip: Cornbread freezes well, so why not freeze half for another day? Thaw, then warm through in a low oven for a few mins before serving.