Broiled Polenta with Roasted Tomatoes

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Labor Day.
We have spent the weekend catching up with old
friends which was so nice!

We did our market shop this weekend and so
I have so many good choices to make for dinner.
This one is a new recipe that came out of

an Italian Step by Step cookbook.  I changed a few

of the ingredients and added the roasted tomatoes to

top of the dish.   

Broiled Polenta wtih Fennel Seeds

4 cups water

1 2/3 cup instant cornmeal ( I used half cornmeal , half polenta)

2 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp fennel seeds ( I decided to put them in my nut grinder instead of leaving them whole)

1/2 cup toasted almonds ( I added this ingredient and also put it in the nut grinder)

2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
olive oil
salt and pepper

*Cheese is optional

Heat the water, add salt and bring to a boil.  Sprinkle in the cornmeal, stirring .
Stir the cornmeal for about 10-15 minutes over a medium heat.  The cornmeal will

begin to thicken and come away from the sides of the pan.  Take the pan off the heat

and add the butter, fennel, nuts and parsley.  Season with a little salt and pepper.
Brush or spray a rectangular dish with oil (medium - small dish).
Spoon the polenta in the dish and smooth out the surface.

 Let sit a few minutes until the polenta sets.
Flip the polenta over onto a cutting board (carefully).  Turn your broiler on high. 
Cut the polenta into slices.  Place the slices on a baking dish and brush with oil.

Put them in the oven on broil until the tops become lightly brown and crispy.

I also made roasted cherry tomatoes to put over the top.

I take cleaned cherry tomatoes and put them in dish with 

olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, sliced garlic.

I put them in the oven on 400 degrees for about 35 minutes. 

At the end, when they are done cooking I add fresh basil.   

My polenta was served with a little Asiago cheese and

roasted tomatoes.

Polenta Cakes with Spicy Sausage and Mozzarella Cheese

Opps, I should have read this recipe more carefully
~ almost two hours of prep time is not what you
want on a week night.

We tried a out this new recipe I had for Polenta Cakes
topped with tomatoes, sausage and mozzarella
cheese ~ kind of like Polenta Pizza.

I must not have read the directions carefully because
each step took a long time. The first set of
directions explained how to make the polenta cakes.
I followed the recipe carefully because I wanted to be sure
the cakes turned out right since they were going to hold
all the other ingredients.

After making the polenta, you move into making a tomato,
onion and white wine sauce that cooks for about 40 minutes.

While the sauce is cooking and the polenta cakes are cooling,
you cook and slice the sausage, slice the cheese and cut up
some fresh basil.

From there you take the polenta cakes out of round tins
and put them on a baking dish. You pour some of the sauce
over the cakes, top it with fresh mozarella, sausage and
basil. Then you bake it for about 5-7 minutes in the oven
at 400.

We were excited to eat dinner after such a long preparation.
The dish was good but the polenta cakes were lacking in flavor.
Looking back at the recipe, I noticed
that it called for the polenta to be cooked in water.
I think next time I will change this to be a broth mixture
of some kind to add a little more flavor. I might even
add some basil and oregano to the broth while the polenta cooks.


Here are some photos of the Polenta Cakes.