Polenta Fingers With Beans And Tomatoes Recipes

BAKED POLENTA WITH FRESH TOMATOES AND PARMESAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish.
• Place the water, milk, and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the polenta and stir with a wooden spoon until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup Parmesan cheese and 2 chopped basil leaves; season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the polenta to the prepared baking dish and arrange the remaining chilled pieces of butter over the top.
• Bake the polenta in the preheated oven until bubbly and beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven.
• Decoratively arrange the slices of tomato over the top of the polenta, spread the remaining basil leaves over the tomatoes, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
• Return to the oven and bake until the tomatoes are warm and the Parmesan cheese is bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes.

POLENTA OR GRITS WITH BEANS AND CHARD

Steps:

• Chop 1/2 of the onion and set aside. To cook dried beans, transfer with their soaking water to a heavy pot. If beans are not covered by 1 1/2 to 2 inches of water, add more water as necessary. Over medium-high heat, bring to a gentle boil and skim away foam. Add unchopped halved onion, crushed garlic cloves and bouquet garni, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour. Using tongs, removed halved onion and whole garlic cloves.
• Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet and add chopped onion and carrot. Cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes, and add chard stems, garlic and pepper flakes. Continue to cook for another couple of minutes, until onion and chard stems are soft. Stir vegetable mixture into beans. Add tomato paste and salt to taste (I use at least 1 1/2 teaspoons), cover and continue to simmer very gently for 1 hour or until beans are tender all the way through and their texture is plush and velvety. Remove and discard bouquet garni.
• Add chard greens (depending on the size of your pot you may have to add a portion at a time, cover for a minute until the first portion wilts, then add the next portion and so on until all of the greens have been added) and continue to simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until greens are tender but still have some color and life in them. Taste bean broth; it should taste rich, delicious, a little spicy. Add salt as necessary. Keep warm.
• Meanwhile, toward the end of the cooking time for the beans, cook polenta; or wait until beans are done and start polenta or grits. When done, spoon into wide soup bowls and press down in the middle with the back of a spoon. Spoon beans and greens with broth over polenta or grits. Top with a little Parmesan or feta and serve.

POLENTA WITH BEANS AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat broiler. Place polenta slices in pan, spray with cooking spray and season with salt and pepper. Broiler for 7-8 minutes, or until warm and slightly crisp.
• Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and tomatoes. Cook until garlic is soft and tomatoes are soft—about 4 minutes. Add beans and vinegar. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until heated through. Remove from heat, add basil and salt and pepper to taste.
• Plate three polenta slices, top with 1/4 of the tomato mixture and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

CHEESY POLENTA FINGERS

Steps:

• Grease a loaf pan with non-stick spray.
• In a bowl, combine cornmeal, 1 cup cold water and salt. Stir well.
• Bring remaining 3 cups water to a rolling boil. Stir in the cornmeal mixture and bring back to the boil, stirring constantly. Reduce to a simmer and stir in cheese.
• Simmer 20 minutes, stirring often, until very thick. Pour into loaf pan and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.
• Turn out of loaf pan and slice lengthwise, 1/2" thick. Cut each slice into fingers about 1" wide. Fry fingers in olive oil until golden brown on both sides, and hot all the way through. Serve with tomato sauce on the side.

WHITE BEANS, POLENTA, ROASTED TOMATOES AND GARLIC

Steps:

• To make the beans, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Fill a small saucepan with enough water to cover the garlic. When water boils add garlic and cook one minute. Drain and repeat this procedure three times -- it will eliminate the harshness and leave the flavor. Mash the garlic with garlic press; set aside.
• Lightly oil a roasting pan and place tomatoes in pan. Roast 10 to 15 minutes, turning once, until juice is released and skins have puckered. When tomatoes are ready, peel and add to pot large enough to hold all the ingredients for the beans.
• Add the garlic, sage, stock and beans. Simmer until mixture is thick and most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt if desired and pepper.
• To make the polenta meanwhile, boil water in small pot with the butter, milk and salt.
• When water boils, reduce heat slightly and slowly whisk in polenta. Reduce heat to very low and cook the polenta 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• To serve, spoon polenta into a shallow bowl or plate and spoon bean sauce over top.