Marcopolenta Recipes

"MARCO... POLENTA!"

Steps:

• In a boiler, simmer chickpeas, including liquid, with red pepper flakes and garlic for about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, drain spinach, reserving the liquid.
• In a large skillet, heat oil. Add cardamon and cook for about a minute (until the pods pop). Add onions, garlic and ginger and saute until the onions are translucent.
• Add spinach, then cinammon and coriander. Reduce heat and simmer gently for about ten minutes, adding reserved spinach liquid as needed to keep the mixture moist.
• Meanwhile, slice and grill polenta, using a dry skillet or stovetop grill.
• Drain chickpeas and add to the spinach mixture.
• Prepare for serving by placing two slices of polenta on each plate. Use a slotted spoon to drain the spinach and chickpea mixture, and top each slice of polenta.
• (Preparation notes: If you're limited for time, you can skip the step of. seasoning the chickpeas separately. Prepare the spinach topping with the pepper and garlic, then add the chickpeas toward the end so that they are heated. Polenta can be baked rather than grilled.).
• (Ingredient notes: Fresh, firm, polenta can be substituted for prepared.
• One cup dried chickpeas can be substituted for canned, by soaking overnight and then cooking until tender. One pound fresh spinach, wash and deveined, can be substituted for frozen. Dried ground cardamon and ginger can be substituted for fresh.).

CREAMY PARMESAN POLENTA

Steps:

• Place the chicken stock in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and cook over medium-high heat until the stock comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and very slowly whisk in the cornmeal, whisking constantly to make sure there are no lumps. Switch to a wooden spoon, add the salt and pepper, and simmer, stirring almost constantly, for 10 minutes, until thick. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan thoroughly while you're stirring. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, creme fraiche, and butter. Taste for seasonings and serve hot with extra Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.

SPANAKOPITA II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Slowly cook and stir onions until softened. Mix in spinach, dill and flour. Cook approximately 10 minutes, or until most of the moisture has been absorbed. Remove from heat. Mix in feta cheese, eggs, salt and pepper.
• Separate one sheet of phyllo from the stack and evenly brush with a light coating of butter. Place another sheet of phyllo over the butter and press the two sheets together. Cut the layered phyllo dough into long strips about 3 inches wide. Keep the remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.
• Lay out one strip of phyllo at a time on your work surface with one of the narrow ends close to you. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling 1 inch from the end closest to you. Fold the bottom right corner over the filling to the left edge to form a triangle. Fold the triangle up, bringing the point at the bottom left up to rest along the left edge. Turn the lower left corner over to touch the right edge. Continue turning the triangle over in this manner until you reach the end of the phyllo.
• Repeat with the remaining filling and phyllo dough. Place filled phyllo dough triangles on a large baking sheet and brush with the remaining butter. (At this point, the pastries may be frozen. See Cook's Note.)
• Bake in the preheated oven until the phyllo is golden brown, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Place spinach in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Cook until tender, about 2 to 6 minutes. Drain and press to remove all water. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until tender, but do not brown. Stir in cooked spinach and continue cooking until all moisture has evaporated. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
• In a large bowl combine feta cheese, Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley and cinnamon. Stir in spinach and onion mixture.
• Brush the bottom of a 17x11 inch jelly roll pan with butter. Place 1 sheet of dough in the bottom of the pan; brush with butter. Continue to layer 13 more sheets of dough, brushing every other sheet with butter. Spread spinach and cheese mixture over dough. Continue layering with remaining dough, brushing every other sheet with butter. Tuck edges of dough under. Brush top sheet with butter and, using a sharp knife, score top layer into diamonds.
• Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

SPAGHETTI MARCO POLO

Steps:

• Cook the spaghetti and drain.
• Either run cold water over the spaghetti until it is cool, or if hot spagetti is desired, add a little butter or oil to keep the noodles from sticking.
• Serve either with remaining ingredients mixed in, or like a salad bar, with the remaining ingredients each in serving bowls.

EASY SPANAKOPITA APPETIZERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. In a large bowl, mix the first 9 ingredients. Place 1 sheet of phyllo dough on a work surface; brush with butter. Layer with 2 additional phyllo sheets, brushing each layer. (Keep remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel to prevent it from drying out.), Arrange 3/4 cup spinach mixture in a narrow row along the long end of phyllo to within 1 in. of edges. Fold bottom edge of phyllo over filling, then roll up. Brush end of phyllo dough with butter and press to seal. Repeat 4 times with phyllo sheets, butter and the spinach mixture. Place rolls on a parchment-lined 15x10x1-in. baking pan, seam side down., Cut rolls diagonally into 2-in. pieces (do not separate). Brush tops with remaining butter. Bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes. If desired, serve with tzatziki sauce, lemon wedges and dill sprigs. , Freeze option: Cover and freeze unbaked rolls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet until firm. Transfer to a freezer container; return to freezer. To use, bake rolls on a parchment-lined 15x10x1-in. baking pan in a preheated 375° oven until heated through and golden brown, about 25 minutes.