On The Menu: Polenta

Hey, it's a new economy and we are all looking for foods that are both inexpensive and go a long way, right? We used polenta three times recently and still have plenty of it left over. The creamy, sweet concoction can be used in so many different ways. You make your own or buy the little tubes you see in the cheese section at your favorite grocer and get to work on your own creativity. Here are a few of the ways we served it.


Steak, polenta with hot and spicy garlic oil and steamed asparagus.

Very simple here. We just cut up some of the polenta, baked it in the oven a bit to warm it up and drizzled it with a fantastic hot and spicy garlic oil from the pantry. The oil added just the right touch of flavor and heat.


Caramelized scallops with polenta coins.

The texture of crisped bacon, the bite of asiago cheese and the color of the green peas was a great accompaniment for the fresh scallops, caramelized to perfection. You can use an apple corer or a cordial glass to cut the polenta into the small coin shapes.


Polenta coins with crisped bacon, asiago cheese and fresh peas.


Grilled chicken with pesto and polenta salad.

We mixed the polenta pieces with quartered grape tomato and drizzled with warm pesto sauce, topped with finely grated pecorino romano.


Polenta, grape tomato, pesto and grated pecorino romano.