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SamIAm's avatar

Anyone have some easy-ish, delicious polenta recipes?

Asked by SamIAm (8703points) May 8th, 2010

So I am addicted to polenta from the supermarket (or lately Trader Joe’s Organic Polenta) but the kind in the roll, not the one you have to actually make.

I have been slicing this polenta and baking it alone until it becomes semi crispy, then adding tomato sauce, fresh basil and mozzarella and putting it back in the oven (sometimes seasoning with sea salt and pepper).

What do you do with this kind of polenta? How else can this be made?

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8 Answers

liminal's avatar

I like to grill the polenta then put black-beans and avocado on it. Sometimes a bit of sour cream. (TJ’s cuban black beans are good if you don’t want to make your own.) Making your own polenta is easy and o-so-good. I like it better than the stuff in the rolls. Are you saying you are interested in doing this too?

edit: Some people like to fry their polenta in a bit of butter and eat it with warm maple syrup.

rpm_pseud0name's avatar

If you buy the polenta already made, then one thing you could do with it is make a sort of chili lasagna. Make up your favorite chili recipe & then put half of it into a baking pan. Then cut up the polenta & layer it on top of the chili. Then add the rest of your chili on top of the polenta, sprinkle some cheese on top & bake it.

kekeke's avatar

Haha, you guys have it covered. Tomato sauce or chili – that’s the way I normally eat it. With whatever is left over in the fridge.

When it’s in the pan, I normally throw in some mushrooms with it, or zucchini, and spaghetti squash goes well, in addition to a tomato or chili sauce. Spaghetti sauce I will use as well, if that’s what I have around.

If I’m feeling real frou frou, polenta, tomato sauce, squash, goatcheese, and to top it off kalamata olives. It’s usually how I eat up leftover polenta.

marinelife's avatar

Saute mushrooms and top with mushrooms and goat cheese. Then put it back in the oven until the cheese melts.

SamIAm's avatar

@liminal : yes! I would totally be interested in doing that… I hear it’s much cheaper as well! Do share… ?

liminal's avatar

Yay! I adore polenta.

Alton Brown offers a good basic recipe. I use vegetable broth or bouillon instead of chicken stock. His method is a little less time intensive. I always made it on the stove top, which requires constant stirring, until I came across Brown’s process.

There are several different grinds of cornmeal. The italian grind is a little finer. It can be made using fine, medium or coarse grinds. The finer grind making a smooth texture and the coarser grinds making for a rougher texture.

A pan of this stuff can last along time and freezes well. In the summer time I grill it like patties and cover it with grilled veggies, nummy!

perspicacious's avatar

Polenta is very easy to make. You simply boil corn meal with water, place in a form, and let it cool. Then cut it. You can add anything you like to it for seasoning. I don’t personally care for it. It was a staple in American homes in the 1930s and 1940s. You can serve any vegetable or meat dish that has a sauce over the polenta.

curiosity49's avatar

Ok, I am also addicted to the roll polenta in the grocery store. I am a heart patient. I am also from the south. I love my breakfast with cheesy eggs and grits. I found that 2 slices of the polenta in the roll are only 70 calories. I saute’ those in some olive oil and place on the plate. Then in the same pan i put the southwestern style egg beaters (it’s real eggs you know). with about 2 oz of lowfat cheddar. I like mine soft scrambled, and I place them over the polenta. Top that with a few shakes of tabasco sauce, and you have a great southwester/southern breakfast! It’s only about 150 calories and it is very heart friendly.

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