Cheesy Baked Polenta in Tomato Sauce
This recipe is quite forgiving in that there's plenty of wiggle room to play. Use whatever herbs and cheeses you have on hand, for example, adjust the spice levels as preferred, and opt for fresh tomatoes if they're in season, or chopped canned tomatoes instead of whole. You can also veganize the dish entirely by using a nondairy milk and vegan cheese, adding some nutritional yeast if you like. This hearty main needs nothing more than some lightly cooked greens to eat alongside.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the Polenta:
- 2¾ cups (660 milliliters) whole milk
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 3½ tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1⅓ cups (200 grams) instant polenta
- ⅔ cup (60 grams) roughly grated Parmesan
For the Sauce:
- ¼ cup (60 milliliters) olive oil
- 2 small yellow onions peeled and finely chopped (about 2½ cups or 360 grams)
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- ⅓ packed cup (10 grams) fresh oregano leaves
- 2 14 ounce (410-gram) cans (tins) plum tomatoes, roughly crushed by hand
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 7 ounces (200 grams) fontina cheese or buffalo mozzarella very thinly sliced
For the Topping:
- ⅓ cup (30 grams) finely grated Parmesan
- 2 scant tablespoons 5 grams finely chopped fresh parsley
- ⅓ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
Instructions
For the Polenta:
- [You can avoid this entire section by buying a Polenta at the store. Much more convenient!]
- Cut our a pice of parchment paper about 16×12 inches (40×30 cm) in size and lay onto a clean work surface.
- Prepare the polenta: Add the milk, garlic, 1½ 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 occasionally, 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 cm 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.
For the Sauce:
- Add the olive oil to a large, ovenproof cast-iron pan that is roughly 11 inches/28 cm 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 ½ cup/100 milliliters water, ¾ 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°F/230°C.
- Gently unwrap the chilled polenta (or the one bought at the store), and transfer to a cutting board. Trim about 1 inch/2 to 3 cm off the ends and then cut the polenta into 24 (1 cm thick) slices.
- Top the tomato sauce eventing with the sliced Fontina (or other cheese), then fan out the polenta slices, overlapping slightly, so that they're spiraled to cover the top, leaving a 1 cm gap from the edge of the pan. Drizzle the polenta with the remaining 2 tablespoons of 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 1 minutes to settle.
For the Topping:
- 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.