Polenta

[flying plum]

I did a search, but most of the posts seemed to be a discussion of polenta based things people ate, rather than recipes. so...i post in the hope that someone has some bright ideas :)

my flatmate recently discovered readymade polenta, so i suggested i would try using polenta flour to make some things this weekend for our weekly food-binge-sundays. anyone got any good recipes, either savoury or sweet?

amanda

[Smoothie]

i serve polenta like this:

i make the polenta, according to the instructions on the pack. then spread it out on a plate, leave it to cool for a couple of hours. then cut it into fries or bigger pieces, and fry it on a grilling pan ( the kind you usually make steaks on, i think),and fry it until crisp and golden.

then i make a olive tapanade sauce, with black olives, garlic, cayenne pepper, lemon, salt and olive oil -a ot of it! (maybe a healthier choice could be to mix olive oil and flaxseed oil, as you don't heat a tapanade?).

then i serve the polenta with a tomato salad with mixed tomatoes, green olives, red onions and basil, and some tapanade sauce. it's soo delish! also VERY good with baked tomatoes, or sundried tomato tapanade.. and perfect to serve with grilled aubergines and squash.

yummie.. polenta goodness.

[LuC]

That sounds delicious Smoothie! I also like to put freshly made tomatoe sauce on the polenta after grilling it on the bbq.

[fiamma]

Polenta's pretty popular here. Sometimes I pour it on to a plate and eat it with cooked mushrooms. Otherwise I pour it into a dish and let it cool. Then you can add tomato sauce and whatever pizza toppings you like to make a polenta "pizza." It's also good cut into small pieces and served like potato gnocchi (with any kind of sauce), or you can fry or grill polenta squares or triangles and serve with any kind of veggie or accompaniment.

I've never had it sweet though - I suppose you could try some variations on rice pudding/tapioca/semolina, maybe with raisins, soya or rice milk, vanilla, toasted coconut, nuts.... I'm getting hungry just writing this :)

[cedarblue]

polenta scares me! :(

[Smoothie]

don't be scared, cedablue! it's soooo good. i really like polenta.
i barbecue it in the summer, with veggies and a bbq marinade.. yummie! and it's really nice served with a green pesto sauce too. like basil or parsley. i like the italian inspired stuff with my polenta. also, you can mix it with some dried or fresh herbs when you're boiling it, and give it some salt and pepper, to give it some taste. i guess you could mix it with olives and sun dried tomatoes too. that would be nice! i really like the polenta fries too. you just cut them in the shape you want, brush some good olive oil on top and "fry" them in the oven. easy and delicious.

[Pob]

I like it sliced about half inch thick, brushed with olive oil, baked in the oven until crispy on the outside, and served with sausages, hash browns, onion rings, baked courgette, baked onion, baked red pepper, baked tomato, baked mushrooms as part of my cooked breakfast. It's sort of a substitute for fried egg.

[flying plum]

ooo, nice ones :) i like the idea of it in a fried breakfast!

i only asked about it sweet, because i saw a recipe the other day for a ricotta polenta cake. clearly, not going to make it with ricotta, but i thought the idea of a sort of non-savoury cake was quite a cool idea :)

amanda

[Gorilla]

polenta scares me! :(

i've never used polenta, always thought it seemed very weird, but some of the ideas in this thread sound really nice. :)

[fiamma]

"Ricotta" polenta cake (maybe with tofu?) sounds divine! *swoon* Any chance you could post the recipe?

[flying plum]

fiamma - it's a delia smith recipe :) here ya go:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/polenta-and-ricotta-cake-with-dates-and-amaretto,1936,RC.html

i'm not sure that this is exactly the one i have at home, but it's similar :)

amanda

[harpy]

Had to find somewhere to post what I made for last night's (and tonight's!) dinner as I thought it was quite nice and it was very quick to make. I'm sure you could do it with traditional rather than instant polenta if you weren't in a hurry.

Sorry about the lack of quantities but I don't think they are all that critical. FWIW I think there was 500grams of instant polenta made up with 1.5 litres of water.

It made about 6 large portions.

INGREDIENTS
Two large heads of broccoli (I'm sure you could use sprouting broccoli too; you need quite a lot of whatever it is as there will be a lot of polenta.)

1 packet instant polenta

1 15-oz (or whatever it is these days) tin of chopped tomatoes

Herbs of your choice and salt and pepper to season (I just used pepper)

Half a packet of fake cheese (the kind that melts) -optional, you could probably do something clever with nutritional yeast instead

METHOD
1. Start heating oven to 200c

2. Remove any tough bits of broccoli stalk and save them for making soup/stock - chop the rest into bite-size chunks and put them in the bottom of a largeish oven-proof dish which you have previously oiled.

3. Cook the polenta in a saucepan as per the instructions, stirring vigorously to get rid of any lumps as far as poss yet dodging when it spits at you.

4. When the polenta's done (about 5 mins) remove from the heat and stir in the tomatoes and all the juice from the can, mixing reasonably thoroughly and seasoning to taste. (The result is a tasteful pale orange or pink.) Pour on top of the broccoli.

5. Grate the pseudo-cheese or slice it thinly and spread on top of the polenta.

6. Put in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the pseudo-cheese has more or less melted and everything is hot. (At this point the broccoli should be just slightly cooked but still al dente.)