Grilled Polenta stuffed with Blue Cheese and Walnuts
Life has just given me the most beautiful gift! I got to spend a good half hour with a very awake, very conscious dad!
My heart sings š
I thought for sure I would never get see him that way again. Heād been under sedation for the last few days and I was certain that he would never wake up again. What a wonderful surprise it was when my mom told me he was awake! It felt just like a miracle!
The only sad part is he couldnāt even talk to me, for his voice is gone, but at least, he was awake and it felt as though he could understand all that I was saying to him and he was very much aware of everything that was going on around him.
It felt so good to see him like that, if only for a short while.
Now, with regards to nourishment, I had been thinking about revisiting my Olive and Sun Dried Tomatoes Grilled Polenta recipe for a while, and when I saw Heidiās GORGEOUS Polenta Lasagna last week, it just gave me the ever so little push that I needed.
While her recipe looks absolutely fantastic, it doesnāt quite meet my āhealthyā standards, so I decided that I would give my recipe another try. Itās only a matter of time before I try her kicked up lasagna toppings over my bare polenta though! š
After this second attempt, I came to realize that a certain amount of fat must be required to make polenta really tasty and creamy. I guess next time, I will try adding a little bit of milk to my water, maybe use half milk, half water, and add about a tablespoon of olive oil to my cooking liquid. And also, maybe up the salt just a tad. Add a little bit of garlic, maybe? I’ll see…
This time, I decided to do things a little differently. For starters, I left the olives and sundried tomatoes out. Not that they weren’t good, it’s just that I felt they were “in the way”. I was in the mood for creamy and didn’t care for the “added texture”…
Then, instead of slicing the polenta into slices and sandwich the cheese and nuts between the slices, I “stuffed” them in the polenta while it was still warm. I spread half the polenta in the pan, sprinkled the cheese and nuts, then topped with the remaining polenta and spread the whole thing smooth.
Since I was planning on grilling my polenta, I figured this method would be a lot more compatible with the grill.
Another thing that I tried was to drizzle about a teaspoon of reduced balsamic vinegar on the polenta. It didn’t look all that good, but it sure added a lot of flavor. If I’m gonna do this again, I need to find a way to make it look better.
In short, this is not a fail, but it’s no “greatest hits” material either.
Looks like there will be a revision #3…
Ingredients
(serves 2-4)
- 4 cups water
- Ā¾ tsp salt
- 175 grams polenta
- 40 grams blue cheese, crumbled
- 45 grams walnuts, chopped
- Arugula or your choice of greens
- Olive oil, salt, pepper, squeeze lemon juice
- Reduced balsamic vinegar, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- In large saucepan, bring water and salt to a boil. Add corn meal gradually, whisking continually. Once you have added all the cornmeal, lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, whisking every 2 minutes or so, until the polenta no longer attaches to the sides.
- Coat 8ā³ cake pan with cooking spray and pour in half the polenta Spread it as evenly as possible. It helps to spray your spatula with cooking spray, or dip it in water.
- Sprinkle blue cheese and walnuts on top of your polenta and cover with remaining half. Again, spread as evenly as possible.
- Cover with plastic film and put in the refrigerator until completely chilled, preferably overnight.
- Take the polenta out of the pan, cut it into 4 squares and cut each square into 2 triangles.
- Brush with a little bit of olive oil and grill on a pre-heated grill over medium heat or in a non stick pan until nice and golden, about 5-7 minutes per side.
- Serve with arugula lightly tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
- If desired, drizzle about a teaspoon of reduced balsamic vinegar overtop the polenta. To make reduced balsamic vinegar, simply bring the vinegar to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer until it becomes fairly thick. You will need approximately Ā¼ cup vinegar to make 2 teaspoons of reduced vinegar.
Balsamic vinegarĀ not looking so good…
Blue cheese oozing… and looking good!
14 Comments on “Grilled Polenta stuffed with Blue Cheese and Walnuts”
What a fabulous use of polenta! I have some I need to use up so I can’t wait to try out something similar.
So glad you were able to spend some time with your dad. What a difficult time.
I love your blog. You’ve inspired me to cook more creatively thank you. This polenta looks delicious! I will try it soon.
Thanks much Karin, and glad to hear I’ve inspired you! It’s always a pleasure for me to hear that! I hope you like the polenta (but then again, maybe you should wait for the next version š )
I think it all looks great and sounds really delicious!
Aw, I’m so glad you got some time with your dad!
I know exactly what you mean, my polenta is not exactly every day food, it does have a lot of milk and butter in it, but once in a while it really is so good š I love the grill marks on yours and I love that it’s stuffed! That sounds awesome š
Wow that looks fantastic! I need to make this polenta dish asap. I can’t believe I’ve only had polenta once… Maybe twice in my life.
Sonia:
This looks so good!
I love polenta, and I have the best, creamiest polenta recipe.
Try white balsamic. I had never heard of it until a day or two ago, but it would solve the visual look.
Thanks for sharing.
Charlie
Oooooh, care to share your polenta recipe? You got me all curious now! Funny, I too only recently heard of white balsamic vinegar. Definitely will have to give that one a try! š
Hi Sonia!
So sorry I haven’t got back to you.
Yes I would love to share my recipe with you, although technically it isn’t mine, but for the world I don’t know where I got it.
Before this recipe I tried Giada’s but didn’t find it creamy enough.
But this one sure is!
I hope you enjoy it. :~D
I love sharing!
Let me know if you like it.
CREAMY POLENTA
Cooking the polenta covered allows condensation to build up, which eliminates the need for constant stirring. And you can still count on the creamy consistency you’ve come to expect from this dish.
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup polenta (not quick-cooking) or yellow cornmeal (5 oz)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Bring water and salt to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan, then add polenta in a thin stream, whisking. Cook over moderate heat, whisking, 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cover pan, then cook at a bare simmer, stirring with a long-handled spoon for 1 minute after every 10 minutes of cooking, 45 minutes total. Remove from heat and whisk in butter until incorporated.
Serve polenta warm.
Cooks’ note: Polenta can be made 20 minutes ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature (do not let stand longer, or it will solidify).
Makes 4 servings.
Whoa! Thanks a bunch for that, Charlie! I’ll make sure to give this one a try, although I can already tell that I’ll be replacing that butter with olive oil… š Can’t wait to try it, though, and I will definitely let you know how it turned out! Thanks much for sharing!
Morning Sonia!
Glad to share.
Enjoy.
Charlie
This recipe is something new as I have made polenta, I’ll make a d go
I like it! Thanks for what you do