Homemade Polenta Squares With Chunky Tomato Sauce

Submitted by little_wing

"Nice as an appetizer or as a meatless main dish. Use whole milk if desired, for richer flavor."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 25mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons light butter
• 1⁄2 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1⁄2 cup chopped onion
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 4 cups skim milk (can use whole or low fat)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal (not cornmeal mix)
• 1⁄2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 (28 ounce) jar chunky garden vegetable spaghetti sauce
• 1 1⁄2 cups shredded provolone cheese

directions

1. Bring milk, salt and cayenne to boil in larfe saucepan over med. high heat.
2. While whisking milk, add cornmeal in a very thin but steady stream. DO NOT LET LUMPS FORM.
3. Reduce heat to low.
4. Cook uncovered 50-60 minute until polenta is very thick, stirring frequently. It will be ready when you can stand a wooden spoon upright in middle of mixture.
5. Meanwhile, melt butter over med. heat.
6. Add bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook 5 minutes or until tender. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
7. When polenta is done, add bell pepper mixture and Parmesan to saucepan. Stir to combine.
8. Spray 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Spread polenta evenly into pan. Cover and let stand at room temp for 6hrs or until completely cooled and firm.
9. Preheat oven to 350°F.
10. Cut polenta into 24 squares.
11. Pour spaghetti sauce evenly over polenta.
12. Bake 20 minutes or until bubbly around edges.
13. Remove from oven and sprinkle with provolone.
14. Bake 2-3 minutes longer to melt cheese.
15. Let stand 5 minutes and loosen edges with spatula.
16. Carefully lift out squares and serve.

Reviews

[Amjam811]

wonderful!!! I did bake it in the oven like Sweet Baboo suggested, and it was waaaay faster. Will make it again.

 

[Sweet Baboo]

This recipe intrigued me because I have always made polenta with water or broth, never just milk as the liquid, and I thought that increasing the protein, as well as the creaminess with milk could be a good thing....it was!! The polenta was just delicious. The addition of the sauteed vegetables, parmesan, and the zip from the cayenne was a perfect balance with the corn flavour, and I will use this as my new standard polenta recipe. Now, I have a confession to make... rather than stirring the polenta on the stove top, I used my usual method and cooked it in the oven at 375F, covered, for about 45 minutes, stirring about every 10 minutes...worked perfectly. Second confession...I was making it ahead so I could follow the recipe and allow it to cool and firm, but after tasting how great the hot, soft polenta was, I served us both up a plateful, and the remainder is now in the fridge awaiting an encore for dinner tomorrow. Thanks for submitting this keeper of a recipe.

 

[anme7039]

I am new with polenta, only ate and prepared it once before but this recipe was both easy and tasty. Took a while to prepare, made the polenta yeaterday and let it chill until dinner tonight. I was able to scale this down a bit without any negative effect I think. But I did leave out the bell pepper since my mother is not a fan of them and used skim milk. Over all a very good recipe I plan on making again!