Polenta Cakes with Roasted Vegetables and Sundried Tomatoes

I love polenta. I love grits. I love cornbread. So I guess you could say that cornmeal and I have a relationship. It does make for a wonderful base for an easy vegetarian recipe. I’ve mentioned before that we try to eat meatless a couple of times a week or so and I do look to polenta for some of my recipe inspirations. This meal came together pretty quickly and it was delicious!

Table of Contents

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Polenta Cakes with Roasted Vegetables and Sundried Tomatoes

Serves 2

I cup of polenta
2 cups of milk
1 1/4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese divided
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups broccoli and cauliflower florets
2 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup dried tomatoes rehydrated with 1/4 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 350°

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Place the broccoli and cauliflower in a baking dish and drizzle with 2 tsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt
Roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes

While the vegetables are roasting make the polenta; add the polenta to the milk and bring to a boil. Add the 1 tsp salt and 1 cup of cheddar cheese.
Add the pepper and stir well.
Pour the polenta mixture into a greased 8 x 8″ baking dish and place in the oven with the roasted vegetables.
Remove the vegetables and add the garlic. Stir well. Return the vegetables to the oven for the remainder of the 30 minute cooking time. (it should be about 15 minutes)
Let the polenta cook for the 15 minutes as well.

While the polenta is cooking toast the pine nuts. Over medium heat add the nuts to a small fry pan and keep an eye on them. They will burn very quickly if you are not careful! When they get a little color on them remove them from the pan and set aside.
Remove the polenta from the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the vegetables sit in it to keep warm.

Cut the polenta into 4 3″ circles and as many small cubes as you can make.
Remove the vegetables from the oven and cut them into bite sized pieces.

Build the dinner: place a circle on the plate, sprinkle on some of the remaining cheddar cheese, then some of the rehydrated tomatoes. Add the second circle. Top with more cheese, some more tomatoes. Add about 4 cubes of polenta to the plate.. Add the roasted vegetables and drizzle some more tomatoes, then sprinkle on the pine nuts and a bit more cheese.
Repeat with the second plate.

How Was it?

It was really delicious. The cheesy polenta with the sweet, roasted vegetables and the bright, tart tomatoes plus the earthy pine nuts made for a wonderful combination. I can see this dish working very well with eggplant and zucchini as well.

Not to mention fresh tomatoes. I can’t wait for the garden to start coming in. The polenta cakes make such a great base for any number of toppings – the possibilities are endless.