This is a quick, hearty dish to make out of healthy components --just our sort of thing!
We cut a log of prepared polenta (cornmeal dough) into 1/2" slices, topped them with pasta sauce, a few veggies, and shredded cheese, and microwaved our saucy circles for about a minute. Voila - delicious! They are fun to assemble and our group found ways to make flowers or faces out of olives, mushrooms, and other trimmings. Shredded cheese makes great "hair."
These would be just as good with salsa and cheese, or even chili and cheese, on top. Polenta is versatile and a nice alternative to pasta or pizza dough. Next, the kids want to make lasagne using polenta circles! Why not?
Here's how we did it:
Ingredients
- 1 18-oz. package pre-cooked polenta (we used Trader Joe’s Organic Polenta, which comes in a log)
- 1 jar or can of pasta sauce or tomato sauce
- 1 small can sliced black olives
- 5-6 rinsed mushrooms, sliced or chopped
- 1 cup baby spinach leaves (if desired)
- Other pizza toppings, such as chopped pepperoni, chopped sweet peppers, green onions, shredded chicken, or canadian bacon
- 1/2 8-oz. package of finely shredded cheese (we used a low-fat blend)
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs, such as rosemary, parsley, basil — or a mixture. We used rosemary from my garden.
Instructions
- Unwrap and slice polenta log into circles 1/2″ thick. Arrange them on a microwave-safe plate, or small individual microwave-safe bowls.
- Spoon about 2 teaspoons of sauce on top of each circle. Add a layer of shredded cheese, and then veggies, herbs and other toppings as desired. Try to keep the toppings from falling off the sides.
- Microwave the polenta circles on high for about 1 to 1.5 minutes, until cheese is mostly melted. That’s it!
More Information
BEWARE! These are very hot right out of the oven and need to cool off before they’re devoured.
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