Polenta

I was recently introduced to polenta. I don’t believe I’ve tried it before and wasn’t really sure what it was. Wikipedia tells me that polenta is boiled cornmeal. I made a trip to the supermarket and purchased a small bag of Bob’s Red Mill Corn Grits Polenta. Since I was new to this, I decided to go with the simple recipe written on the package.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups Corn Grits-Polenta
• 3 tbsp butter

Directions:

1. In a large pan, bring water and salt to a boil.
2. Gradually stir in polenta.
3. Reduce heat and simmer gently
4. Stir frequently until mixture is very thick
5. Add in butter and stir well.
6. Pour polenta into bowl and let set for 10 minutes.
7. Invert onto a flat plate.

The mixture will thicken and hold its shape when you let it cool. I read that you can mold them into balls, patties, or other fun shapes. They can be baked or grills afterwards too. I decided to get a bit creative with the polenta. This is a Vegan spinach and mushroom quiche, but instead of the pastry crust I used two big circular sheets of polenta. It tasted pretty great, especially with ketchup and hot sauce.

The recipe to come…