Baked Cheesy Broccoli Polenta Fingers
Allergen lists cover the priority allergens in the recipe as written. Always check your own ingredient labels, and introduce each new allergen on its own first.
Ingredients
- 150 g (1 cup) quick-cook polenta (cornmeal)
- 700 ml (3 cups) plain water, or no-salt-added vegetable stock — check the stock label first, because many vegetable stocks contain celery (itself a Top-14 allergen) and some contain soya or wheat; plain water is the safest choice while you are still introducing allergens one at a time
- 80 g (1 cup) broccoli florets, steamed very soft and finely chopped
- 60 g (1/2 cup) grated mild full-fat cheese — mild cheddar or Edam work well; check the label actually says 'pasteurised', because traditional Gruyère and Emmental are usually made from unpasteurised milk. Pick the lowest-salt option you can find and add no extra salt
- 15 g (1 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 1 tsp olive oil, for greasing
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease a small baking tray or line it with baking paper.
- 2. Steam the broccoli for 8-10 minutes until it squashes easily between your fingers, then chop it very finely.
- 3. Bring the water or stock to a simmer, rain in the polenta while whisking, and cook on low for 5-8 minutes until very thick, stirring constantly.
- 4. Off the heat, beat in the butter, grated cheese and chopped broccoli.
- 5. Spread the mixture 1.5 cm thick onto the tray, smooth the top and chill for 20-30 minutes until firm enough to cut — this chilling is hands-off and sits on top of the cooking time.
- 6. Cut to size (see age guides), brush lightly with olive oil and bake for 18-22 minutes, turning once, until the edges are set but the inside stays soft.
- 7. Cool to lukewarm and press-test one piece between thumb and forefinger before serving. If a piece has baked into a firm or crusty edge, trim that crust away and serve the soft centre — a hard crusty shard is a choking risk, and no piece should go to baby unless it squashes.
How to serve by age
6–8 months
Cut the chilled slab into finger-length batons about 8 cm long and about 2 cm wide — roughly an adult finger's width — so baby can hold one in a whole-hand palmar grasp with the end protruding to chew on. Bake only until the edge firms; the centre must stay squashable.
9–12 months
Cut into 1 cm cubes, about pea-to-chickpea sized, and scatter them on the tray so baby can practise the pincer grasp, lifting each cube between thumb and forefinger.
Paediatric note
Hard cheeses such as cheddar are among the most calcium-dense foods per gram, but they are also naturally salty, so use a small amount as a flavour-and-calcium booster rather than a bulk ingredient and add no extra salt — babies under 12 months should have less than 1 g of salt a day. Use pasteurised cheese only, and check the label rather than the cheese type, since several traditional hard cheeses are made from unpasteurised milk. Check your stock label too: celery is a Top-14 allergen and turns up in most vegetable stocks, so water keeps this recipe to a single declared allergen. Polenta is also a useful way to vary the grain rotation away from rice, limiting inorganic arsenic exposure.
Source guidance: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/weaning-and-feeding/
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