Confetti Polenta with Tomato Prosciutto Sauce
Preparation and cooking time: 20 minutes done 2 hours earlier
With colorful, sautéed vegetables swirled through the polenta, this makes a pretty first course. It needs to be thoroughly chilled in order to slice well - and I used a sharp Chef's knife rather than a serrated bread knife. The serrated edge tore rather than sliced.
Ingredients:
- 1 small carrot, 60gr, 2.1oz
- 1 small rib celery, 30gr, 1oz
- 1/2 medium onion, 70gr, 2.5oz
- 1 tsp olive oil, 4.5gr, .16oz
- hand full spinach leaves, 30gr, 1oz
- 7 - 10 olives, black or green, 25gr, .88oz
- 1/2 cup quick-cooking polenta, 90gr, 3.2oz
- 7/8 cups stock (2 cups minus 2 tbs), 450gr, 15.8oz
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan, 33gr, 1.2oz
- Tomato Prosciutto Sauce
- 1/4 medium onion, 50gr, 1.7oz
- 4 slices Prosciutto Serrano, Bayonne, 100gr, 3.5oz
- 2 tsp olive oil, 9gr, .32oz
- 2 cups diced tomatoes, 450gr, 15.9oz
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp basil
Instructions:
- Finely chop onion, celery and carrot.
- Heat oil in nonstick skillet. Add carrot, onion and celery and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.
- Slice olives.
- Using a scissors, cut the spinach leaves into fine strips.
- Heat stock in saucepan.
- When boiling, pour in polenta, whisking constantly - or it will have little volcanic eruptions spewing polenta all over your stove.
- Turn heat down and cook about 5 minutes (or whatever your package tells you), stirring constantly. You may have to switch to a wooden spoon.
- When done stir in cheese, vegetables and olives, distributing evenly.
- Lightly oil a bread pan, size doesn't matter. With a rubber spatula, scoop polenta into one end of the bread pan - tilt the pan and prop it so the polenta stays put. Smooth the top and exposed end. I ended up with a cube about 5 X 5 X 2 1/2 (12.5 X 12.5 X 6 cm). Cover with film and let cool.
- Tomato Prosciutto Sauce
- Finely chop the onion.
- Roughly chop the Prosciutto.
- Open tomatoes, drain and chop.
- Heat olive oil in medium, skillet. Add onion and ham and sauté until onion is transparent.
- Add tomatoes and herbs, reduce heat and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, uncovered. Stir occasionally. It should be chunky and thick.
- To Serve: Slice half of the Polenta Loaf, 2 - 3 slices per person (1/3", 1 cm thick). Arrange nicely on a plate.
- Divide sauce and add to plate. Serve.
Fried Confetti Polenta for the leftovers Time: 8 minutes
- leftover confetti polenta
- 2 tsp olive oil, 9gr, .32oz
Slice polenta thickly, (1/2", 1.5cm). Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add polenta slices and quickly fry until golden. Turn and fry other side. Remove and serve with soup or salad.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nutrition Information |
Nutrition Information Fried Polenta Recipe serves 2 Entire Recipe / per serving Calories: 399 / 199.5 Total Carbohydrates: 44 / 22 Dietary Fiber: 6 / 3 Total Fat: 19 / 9.5 Saturated Fat: 4 / 2 Cholesterol: 22 / 11 Protein: 14 / 7 Calcium: 248 / 124 Sodium: 766 / 383 |
General Technical Details and Disclaimer:
Measurements in this color are actual measurements used for calculation. If there are no values the nutritional numbers were simply too small.
I try to be accurate, but I do not guarantee it. I use 'grams' as the unit of weight; with an approximate conversion to ounces.
My information comes from my own digital, computerized scale and the USDA Nutrient Data Library: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
