Polenta With Fennel Peppers Tomatoes And Cheese Recipes

POLENTA WITH ROASTED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450. Toss the tomatoes, olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large ovenproof skillet. Roast in the oven until the tomatoes are charred around the edges, about 25 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 but keep the tomatoes inside.
• Meanwhile, bring 5 cups water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Slowly whisk in the polenta until smooth and creamy. Add 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat, cover and keep warm.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Slice the chard leaves into wide strips and the stems into 1-inch pieces. Boil the stems until almost tender, about 5 minutes, then add the leaves and cook until both are tender, about 3 more minutes. Drain the chard.
• Remove the skillet from the oven and place over medium-high heat. Push the tomatoes to one side, add the butter and swirl until the butter is golden brown. Add the chard and toss to coat. Divide the polenta among 4 bowls. Top with the tomatoes and chard. Season the cheese with salt and sprinkle over the top.

CHEESY POLENTA

Steps:

• Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy pot. Add the salt. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often, until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. Add the cheese, milk, butter, and parsley. Stir until the butter and cheese have melted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer the polenta to a bowl and serve.

BAKED POLENTA WITH FRESH TOMATOES AND PARMESAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish.
• Place the water, milk, and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the polenta and stir with a wooden spoon until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup Parmesan cheese and 2 chopped basil leaves; season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the polenta to the prepared baking dish and arrange the remaining chilled pieces of butter over the top.
• Bake the polenta in the preheated oven until bubbly and beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven.
• Decoratively arrange the slices of tomato over the top of the polenta, spread the remaining basil leaves over the tomatoes, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
• Return to the oven and bake until the tomatoes are warm and the Parmesan cheese is bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes.

CHEESY BAKED POLENTA IN TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut out a piece of parchment paper about 16-by-12 inches/40-by-30 centimeters in size and lay onto a clean work surface.
• Prepare the polenta: Add the milk, garlic, 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper to a medium saucepan. Bring to a bare simmer, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat. Turn the heat to medium-low and slowly pour in the polenta, whisking continuously, until completely incorporated and there are no lumps. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring all the while with a spatula. When cooked, the mixture should pull away from the sides of the pan and be quite thick.
• Add the Parmesan, stirring for another 30 seconds to melt. Remove from the heat and transfer the mixture to the parchment paper. Use your hands to quickly shape the polenta into a large cylindrical shape, about 13-inches/32-centimeters long. Use the parchment paper to help you tighten the cylinder and then gently roll the whole thing in the paper, tightening as you go, then twisting in opposite directions at both ends. Refrigerate to set for about 1 hour, or longer if time allows.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce: Add the olive oil to a large, ovenproof cast-iron pan that is roughly 11-inches/28-centimeters wide, and heat over medium-high. Once hot, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes, or until softened and lightly colored.
• Stir in the garlic, red-pepper flakes and oregano, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and their juices, sugar, a scant 1/2 cup/100 milliliters water, 3/4 teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-high. Turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Set aside until needed.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit/230 degrees Celsius.
• Gently unwrap the chilled polenta and transfer to a cutting board. Trim about 1 inch/2 to 3 centimeters off the ends and then cut the polenta into 24 (1-centimeter-thick) slices.
• Top the tomato sauce evenly with the sliced fontina, then fan out the polenta slices, overlapping slightly, so that they're spiraled to cover the top, leaving a 1-centimeter gap from the edge of the pan. Drizzle the polenta with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until polenta is golden in places and the sauce is bubbling. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes to settle.
• While the polenta cools, in a small bowl combine all the topping ingredients. Sprinkle a handful of the topping over the polenta and serve the remaining in a bowl alongside. Serve warm.

POLENTA WITH FENNEL, PEPPERS, TOMATOES AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Wash and trim the top branches and the bottom from the fennel. Slice the fennel bulb very thinly into rounds, and then slice the rounds into julienne strips.
• Heat a medium-large nonstick skillet until it is very hot; add oil, reduce heat and stir in the fennel, cooking until fennel begins to brown and soften.
• Wash, trim, seed and thinly slice the peppers, and cut slices into small pieces; add to fennel, and continue to saute over medium heat.
• Wash, trim and cut up tomatoes; add to vegetables when peppers have begun to soften.
• Pit and cut up olives, and add. Cover the pot; reduce heat to simmer, and continue to cook until the vegetables are tender.
• In covered pot, boil stock.
• Grate cheese.
• Slowly stir polenta into boiling stock, reduce heat to medium-high and cook until mixture thickens, just a couple of minutes.
• When polenta is cooked, stir in the cheese, season with salt and pepper, and top with the vegetables.

BAKED POLENTA WITH SICILIAN PEPERONATA AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500°F. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray. Brush both sides of polenta slices with 1 tablespoon olive oil and arrange on prepared sheet. Bake until polenta is crusty, turning over after 7 minutes, about 14 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and vinegar and cook until tomatoes soften, about 3 minutes. Add roasted peppers, olives and basil and simmer 2 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
• Arrange polenta on plates. Spoon sauce over and serve.

PAN-FRIED CHICKEN BREASTS WITH POLENTA AND SALSA

Steps:

• Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Carefully whisk in the polenta to prevent lumps from forming. Reduce the heat, and continuously stir the mixture until it thickens (just a couple of minutes). Remove from the heat, and stir in the butter and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into a greased 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and spread evenly with a spatula. Allow to cool. Refrigerate, if making ahead.
• For the guacamole, puree the avocados with the lime juice in a food processor. Stir in the onion, a quarter to a half of the minced chilies and the coriander leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate, if making ahead.
• When ready to serve, heat the olive oil in a large nonstick pan. Add the chicken, skin-side down, and brown over high heat. Turn, and brown on the other side. Reduce the heat to medium-high, and cook the chicken until it is done, a total of about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, make the salsa. Trim the tomatoes, quarter them and place in the food processor along with the coriander sprigs, scallions and the remaining minced chilies (or less to taste). Process until coarse. Season with salt and pepper.
• When ready to brown the polenta, preheat the broiler. Turn out the polenta from its dish onto an oiled baking sheet, and place under the hot broiler until the surface begins to puff and brown, 3 to 5 minutes. The polenta can broil while chicken is cooking.
• In center of a plate, place a pool of salsa. Place the polenta on top of the salsa. Arrange a few arugula leaves on the side; place a piece of chicken on the arugula, and top the chicken with guacamole.

SHRIMP WITH HOT FENNEL SAUSAGE AND POLENTA

Steps:

• Make the polenta: Bring 8 cups salted water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Whisk in polenta, continuing to whisk as mixture begins to thicken, about 1 minute. Turn heat to low and let polenta cook slowly, whisking every few minutes for about 10 minutes. Turn heat to very low and continue to cook for least 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. If polenta gets too thick to stir easily, add a bit of water to obtain a porridge-like consistency. (When finished, there should be no raw cornmeal flavor.) Taste a cooled spoonful, then correct seasoning with salt and pepper. Turn off heat, whisk in butter and keep warm.
• Meanwhile, prepare the topping: Heat olive oil in a large, wide skillet over medium-high heat. When oil shimmers, add shrimp in one layer and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, until lightly browned. Using tongs, turn shrimp over, season and cook for 30 seconds more. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. (Shrimp will not be fully cooked.)
• Add onion to pan and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add sausage meat and cook, mashing with a large spoon to let sausage crumble into rough half-inch pieces. Continue cooking for 5 to 6 minutes, until mixture is lightly browned. Stir in garlic, red-pepper flakes and rosemary, and cook for 1 minute more.
• Add wine and tomato purée. Simmer for 1 minute and stir in crème fraîche. Turn off heat and check seasoning. Warm a large serving platter. In a small bowl, mix together scallions, capers, parsley and lemon zest.
• To finish, turn heat to high. Add reserved shrimp to sausage mixture and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, until shrimp are cooked through and sauce has thickened slightly.
• Mound polenta into middle of platter. Spoon shrimp and sauce around polenta. Sprinkle with scallion mixture and serve. (Alternatively, place a large spoonful of polenta into individual plates or soup bowls and top with shrimp and sauce.)

FENNEL POLENTA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Place the fennel bulbs and water in a roasting pan on the lowest rack of the oven, roast about one hour, until very tender. Remove and allow to cool slightly. Chop coarsely, place in a food processor with two tablespoons of the milk and process until smooth. Set aside.
• In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk, the stock, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a simmer. Slowly whisk in the cornmeal. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick enough to allow the spoon to stand up in it, about 15 minutes. Stir in the fennel puree, the chopped fennel greens and the butter. Adjust seasonings.
• Line a baking pan 9 by 13 inches with parchment paper. Spread the polenta in the pan, smooth the surface and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for four hours, until firm.
• Cut the polenta into three-inch squares. Invert the pan to unmold them, then refrigerate them until ready to cook. Reheat the polenta by sauteing it in butter in a nonstick skillet or brushing it with butter or oil and grilling or broiling the squares until they are lightly browned and heated through. Keep in a warm oven until all the squares are browned, then serve.

POLENTA PIE WITH CHEESE AND TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F. Oil a 9-inch pie plate or a 4-cup gratin dish with 1 teaspoon oil. 3Cut polenta roll crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices and line pie plate with half of slices, overlapping slices slightly to completely cover bottom of pie plate. Stir 1 tablespoon basil into 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce and spread over polenta, then sprinkle with half of mozzarella. Top with remaining half of polenta slices, then sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano and remaining half of mozzarella.
• Bake until bubbling and golden, about 20 minutes. While pie bakes, heat remaining pasta sauce, basil, and oil in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Let pie stand 5 minutes to firm up and cool, then serve with extra sauce on the side.
• *Found at many supermarkets and lucini.com.