Description
A lighter version of a family takeaway favorite
Ingredients
Scale
For the polenta
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup corn meal
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for the pan
for the toppings
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1–2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1–2 small heads of broccoli, cut into small pieces
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons julienne-cut sun dried tomatoes (I used the packed-in-oil kind)
- 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning blend (if you don’t have one use a combination of whatever Italian spices you have on hand)
- 1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese
Instructions
- Lightly brush a pizza pan or baking sheet with olive oil. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Slowly add the corn meal, whisking the whole time. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, whisking frequently, until the polenta pulls away from the edge of your pot and you have a thick consistency. This should take about 5 minutes. Stir in the salt, pepper, and oil.
- Using a spoon or rubber spatula, transfer the polenta onto the pizza pan. Use the spatula (or spoon) to spread the polenta out thinly and evenly on the pan. After it cools a bit, use your hands to spread it all the way to the edges. This will take a few minutes and it may seem like the polenta isn’t going to spread. Just keep pressing it with your hands and it will spread out. Take care to spread it out evenly so you don’t have any overly thick places or holes in your polenta.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. I allowed this time to let the polenta sit and firm up a bit. This is a great time to chop your broccoli.
- Put the polenta in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the edges are lightly brown.
- While the polenta is cooking, prepare your toppings. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet (you’ll need one with a lid) over medium heat. Add the garlic and allow it to cook for about a minute. Add the broccoli and stir it around with the garlic. Saute the broccoli for about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water, cover, and allow the broccoli to steam another 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the sun dried tomatoes and seasoning and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium low or low, return the cover, and continue to cook until the polenta is ready, stirring frequently.
Pull your polenta crust out of the oven. Rustic looking, no? Add your toppings and put it back into the oven for about 2 minutes to heat the cheese.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: main meal
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 of 2 servings
- Calories: 428
- Sugar: 13.5g
- Sodium: 674mg
- Fat: 18.5g
- Carbohydrates: 54.5g
- Protein: 24g