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Grilled Polenta Recipe with Fresh Tomatoes
This Polenta Recipe shows you how to make Grilled Polenta with Fresh Tomatoes, but you can also top your Polenta with Tomato Sauce! I show you how to prepare it both ways.
Polenta—An Easy Side Dish
My mom is of Northern Italian heritage, and so when it comes to side dishes, polenta was a staple on our dinner table when I was growing up. It’s the equivalent of American-style mashed potatoes.
Basic polenta is easy to prepare and delicious, but you can also take your polenta one step further and form it into little squares or rectangles and grill it! This method was my favorite way to enjoy polenta when I was a child, and as I show you in my recipe video, it’s still my favorite way today!
All It Takes Is a Simple Chilling
To make grilled polenta, you just need to take one more preparation step. Pour your polenta into a baking dish and let it chill. It will firm up within a few hours and then be ready to grill. That’s it! Making this dish with ingredients from your pantry couldn’t be easier with the steps in my printable recipe.
The taste of grilled polenta can’t be beaten. It’s the perfect way to prepare this dish in the summer, especially topped with fresh tomatoes and basil from your garden. But you can certainly make this recipe all year round. In the cooler months, sauté up your polenta in a frying pan, and top it with homemade tomato sauce.
Watch Related Videos
Now that you know how to make Grilled Polenta, try your hand at other delicious recipes that use pantry staples from your traditional foods kitchen.
Pantry Meal Videos
Northern Italian Recipe Video
And for another traditional Northern Italian favorite, be sure to try this scrumptious stew.
Kitchen Scraps and Gardening Videos
And if you’re looking for ways to reuse and regrow your kitchen scraps for future meals, watch the videos below to help you create a recurring harvest. Regrowing scraps provides you with fresh and nutritious ingredients for your recipes.
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Grilled Polenta
Equipment
- Large sauce pan
- 9" x 9" baking dish
Ingredients
- 3 cups Chicken broth Optionally, you can use water or vegetable broth.
- 1/4 cup Olive oil Optionally, you can use butter or ghee (clarified butter).
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Cornmeal, medium or coarse ground If you can find it, look for cornmeal labeled "Polenta." This if the perfect grind.
Instructions
- To a saucepan, add broth, oil, and salt. Bring to a roiling boil.
- Begin to whisk in the cornmeal slowly. Once all the cornmeal has been added, turn the heat down to medium-high and continue to stir the mixture until it resembles mashed potatoes. This can take approximately 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and spread the polenta into a greased 9" x 9" baking dish. Transfer the dish to the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, remove the polenta from the fridge and slice into 12 rectangles.
- Transfer each rectangle to a well-greased, hot grill pan. Grill each side for a minute or two and then transfer to a serving plate. Top with fresh tomatoes and basil or tomato sauce.
- Alternatively, if you are not using a grill pan, add a tablespoon of butter or olive oil to a frying pan and sauté each rectangle until golden on each side. Top with fresh tomatoes and basil or tomato sauce.
Video
Notes
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Recommended Reading
The books in this section help you learn more about cooking economically using pantry staples, food from your long-term storage, and your garden harvest.
️Vintage Recipes Series:
Nourishing Traditions Series:
Italian Cookbooks:
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*Affiliates note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. My content may contain affiliate links to products and services. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay.
**Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.
