Ever since I had that, though, I wanted to try making some crispy, fried, polenta as a main.
In this case, in a quasi-traditional Italian main, in tomato sauce.
I chopped up the remaining "bricks" of polenta I had, which had been leftover in the fridge.
And then I fried them in some avocado oil. Why avocado, you ask? Well, it has one of the highest smoke points of any cooking oil, and it doesn't impart too much flavour, so in my opinion it makes a great frying oil.
As for the tomato sauce, I didn't take any photos of it while I made it, but it was fresh organic roma tomatoes, puréed with some fresh garlic and onion and some fresh thyme. Why thyme? The only reason was because I had some fresh thyme in the fridge needing to be used up. Normally my go-to herb for a good tomato sauce is basil or oregano. But thyme works great sometimes too!
Anyway, once the polenta sticks got nice and crispy, I plated them, covered them in fresh, piping-hot tomato sauce, and then a light dusting of parmigiano reggiano.
Mmmmm...
This was really, really good, and very hot and filling on a cold January evening.
The polenta was crispy and slightly tough on the outside, but delightfully soft and fluffy on the inside. And the flavour worked very well with the tangy tomato sauce.
Even though this was the first time I had made something like this, I think I would definitely try it again. It was worth the effort.
Of course, you'll remember I put some cheese and butter in the polenta, but you wouldn't need to, and this could very well be a great vegan dish otherwise, if you were so inclined. Just add a pinch more salt and pepper at the end and you can skip the cheese.
Anyway, a delightful use of polenta if I do say so myself.
:)
