It’s easy to make, and tastes heavenly!! The polenta crust is crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. Here’s a picture from the front:

And here’s how it looks from the back:

While we made ours ... [read more]]]>

It’s easy to make, and tastes heavenly!! The polenta crust is crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. Here’s a picture from the front:

And here’s how it looks from the back:

While we made ours in a large Dutch oven, the recipe in my book calls for the polenta to be divided up into small, individual, ovenproof dishes. We didn’t have enough small oven-proof casserole dishes though, but it worked out fine making it in a large Dutch oven.

This is definitely a meal we’ll be making again and again. It can be made with all different types of fish, and you can also uses different cheeses as well if you want a slightly different taste.

Cod Polenta Spinach Bake

Recipe Adapted from: “Simply Pasta and Italian” by Parragon Publishing, Queen Street House, 4 Queen Street, Bath, BAI, IHE, UK. Published in 2001. The recipe (“fish gratin”) was found on page 218.

The first recipe that I just had to try were these cute little prosciutto-wrapped polenta kabobs. Being a huge fan of both ... [read more]]]> “Simply Pasta and Italian” by Parragon Publishing. It has so many wonderful recipes in it, and I’m thrilled with the book!

The first recipe that I just had to try were these cute little prosciutto-wrapped polenta kabobs. Being a huge fan of both polenta and prosciutto, Kemal and I were hardly waiting to try this perfect pairing.

It was awesome!!!! They were rich in flavor but not heavy on our stomachs. I can hardly wait to make them again.

The only disappointing thing was that we ate every single bite and had none leftover for our breakfast the next day.

They can be served as an appetizer, or if you’re like us…they make a perfect meal!

Polenta Skewers with Prosciutto

Adapted from: “Simply Pasta and Italian” by Parragon Publishing, Queen Street House, 4 Queen Street, Bath, BAI, IHE, UK. Published in 2001. The recipe was found on page 66.

Here’s are two pictures of them before we baked them:

And here’s one more picture of them after they came out of the oven.

They’re amazingly delicious!

This evening we enjoyed our polenta with a little salad and some Italian-style chicken ... [read more]]]>

This evening we enjoyed our polenta with a little salad and some Italian-style chicken sausages. We fried the sausages in a little olive oil, sprinkled them with chili powder, and then smothered them in a tomato goat cheese sauce which we made by blending tomatoes, goat cheese, olive oil, and some herbs. It was a lovely dinner, and I definitely would have to say that the polenta was my favorite part of it.

Kemal finds his polenta even more satisfying and richer in flavor when he tops it with Greek yogurt. I tried it that way and thought it was quite tasty.

Last night I had a dream about making a quiche with a polenta crust. That sounds totally awesome and I’m definitely going to try it these days. In the meantime, here’s how we make our polenta:

Cheesy Polenta

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup polenta, instant
• 1 1/3 cups water (you can substitute with milk if you want your polenta richer)
• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 3/4 cup goat cheese
• 3/4 to 1 cup Parmesan cheese (depends on how thick you want your polenta)
• sea salt to taste
• parsley to taste

Note: You can try making the polenta with different types of cheeses just to change things up. We’ve also made it with a combination of feta cheese and Kasseri Greek sheep cheese, and that was wonderful! It would also be excellent with ricotta and Romano.

Instructions:

• Bring the water (or milk) and butter to a boil on high heat.
• Reduce the heat to medium, and then add the salt and polenta, stirring constantly.
• Add the goat cheese, Parmesan, and parsley after the polenta thickens up.
• Cook until it thickens even more.

I liked the bread ... [read more]]]>

I liked the bread just fine. It tasted good and it wasn’t too dry and crumbly the way cornbread can sometimes be. It was moist and the sunflowers gave it an interesting taste and texture. Yet while I like the bread, which was even better with butter on it, it doesn’t come close to that incredible cornbread I used to make. Still, I’m glad I tried it, and I’m looking forward to enjoying more of it with my leftover chicken soup tomorrow night. You can see the bread sliced here.

Polenta Sunflower Seed Bread (Adapted from: “Bread: the breads of the world and how to bake them at home” by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter. See page 170 for the their Polenta Bread recipe)