Coconut and Berries

Healthy, Vegan Recipes by Emma Potts

Pesto Polenta Triangles, Balsamic White Beans with Cherry Tomatoes + Basil

P is for…Polenta!

Polenta

I was a little confused about the difference between cornmeal and polenta and the line between the two does seem to be fairly blurred. This is one opinion from the Kitchn. I tend to think of polenta as medium or coarse cornmeal and use it mainly for making cornbread (!) and cornmeal pancakes.

This post from Little Vegan Bear reminded me that it’s great on it’s own too. You can eat it creamy and soft (I like it this way for breakfast as an alternative to porridge) or pour it into a dish, cool it, cut it into shapes and bake or pan-fry until crispy.

Many people seem to think they don’t like polenta but I’m convinced that’s because they haven’t had it cooked well. It is very bland so needs plenty of seasoning to make it taste good.

I stirred in some pesto and sundried tomatoes to really amp up the flavour here and served it with some simple balsamic white beans with tomatoes and basil which complemented the dish well.

Pesto Polenta Triangles, Balsamic White Beans with Cherry Tomatoes + Basil

Pesto Polenta Triangles:

2C Water
3/4C Polenta
1/2t Salt
1/4C Non-dairy Milk (unsweetened)
1T Nutritional yeast
1 1/2T Pesto
1/4C Sundried tomatoes (oil-packed or dried + reconstituted in hot water)

Bring the water to a boil in a medium-size pan. Add the polenta and salt and turn the heat down, it might splutter so be careful! It will start to thicken quickly so whisk vigorously to avoid lumps.

If you’re using regular polenta, stir to thicken for 5-10 minutes then add the remaining ingredients. If using instant polenta it will only need about 2 minutes to thicken up.

When all ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is very thick, pour into a lightly oiled container, smooth out top and leave to cool. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Cut polenta into 6 equal triangles (or shape of your choice). Heat a pan over high and add a drizzle of olive oil. Pan-fry polenta triangles for a approx 3 minutes on both sides until crisp.

Serves 2-3

Pesto Polenta Triangles, Balsamic White Beans with Cherry Tomatoes + Basil

I like to use larger white beans like butter beans here but cannellini would also work well. I love this bean dish. It’s sweet and syrupy from the balsamic and red onion, and the juicy cherry tomatoes, just beginning to collapse, burst in your mouth. Plenty of garlic and basil round everything out.

Balsamic White Beans w/Cherry Tomatoes + Basil:

1/2T Olive oil
1/2 Red onion, diced small
1 Clove of garlic, minced
1/4t Dried thyme (optional)
125g/4oz Cherry tomatoes
1 1/2C/1 Can cooked white beans
2T Balsamic vinegar
Salt + pepper

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high. Cook red onion for a few minutes until soft, add garlic and thyme and sauté for another minute. Add Cherry tomatoes and continue to cook until beginning to collapse. Finally add white beans and balsamic vinegar and cook until warm through and the balsamic has reduced.

Season with salt and pepper and serve

Serves 2-3

PRINT RECIPE HERE

Pesto Polenta Triangles, Balsamic White Beans with Cherry Tomatoes + Basil

A few dishes using polenta that I’ve got my eye on…

This Polenta topping for fruit crumble from David Lebovitz sounds a lovely way to change up my favourite oaty version

This Sweet Potato & Coconut Polenta with Asian Vegetable Fricasée sounds absolutely delicious and is really different to any other polenta dishes I’ve seen.

These South-western Bean & Cornmeal Cakes- You knew I’d feature a patty recipe didn’t you?!

Over to you…

Have you had good experiences with polenta? What do you make with it?

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Side Notes: Coconut and Berries now has a print recipe feature! Just click on the link “Print Recipe here” and you’ll be taken to a pdf showing only the recipe without the rest of the post and pictures, for easy printing. Hope it’s helpful for some of you.  

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Comments

  4. This sounds delicious! I’ve had some polenta sitting around the house for a while, and finally found a way to use it. Now I’ve got another way to use it and I’m not sure I’ll have enough left over… The one time I remember having polenta I did not care much for it, but I think your recipe could fix that. :-)

  6. I llooovvveee polenta! The.Boy always thinks he doesn’t like it when I put it in front of him…but then he does. So maybe people just think it doesn’t look like it should be good?

  7. Yes love polenta - your meal looks fantastic - I love polenta so many ways - one way is to bake soft polenta with tomato and cheese on top - am sure it would work well without the cheese, love cornbread and I also a few years ago (on my blog) made polenta and quinoa sticks with savoury rhubarb sauce which I loved (mmm maybe would find it different now)

    • That last dish sounds really interesting. I bet baked with cheese + toms is great. I actually just won a veganmofo giveaway of some vegusto cheeses so maybe I’ll try it when my prize arrives!

    • Thanks Caeli :) I oven dried so many trays of home-grown tomatoes in the summer and they were so delicious. Lucky you with tomatoes at this time of year.

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