Gluten-free Polenta Vegetable Loaf

I love my loaf pan. Basically because it gets me though many a quick bread, which have been quite abundant around here lately. But today, it upped it's standard.

Enter: the polenta loaf.

Polenta has consumed my thoughts before, so this is nothing new. I love it when foods can swing different directions - feeling pasta sauce? Throw it on. Have leftover pesto? Mix it in. Have two leftover cans of beans in the fridge who have nowhere to go? Yes - they go in, too. SO GOOD. So right.

By the way, polenta is a schmancy name for corn meal. It's WAY easier to find it under it's given name, like in the bulk food section of your nearest WinCo. Which is a store that just appeared 2 miles away from me, and has already made a bulk foods lover out of me for life. Bulk food is cheaper than the pre-packaged stuff, and you can control how much you buy. It's a beautiful thing.

For the vegetables, I used leftover stir fried veggies from the night before, but feel free to use whatever floats your fancy. These just had mushrooms, carrots, beans, peppers and tomatoes with a balsamic-gravy thing going on. Use something you love.

This has the casserole feel to it and isn't structured to stay together once you dish it up. As you can see by the sliding slice on my plate in the background, it will be juicy. However, if you prefer saucy over dry, this will work out just fine. If you don't, you'll be so happy with the flavor it won't matter anyway.

Polenta Vegetable Loaf
Makes one 8x5 loaf

Ingredients
3.5 cups water
1 cup polenta
1/4 cup prepared pesto
one 2.25 ounce can sliced olives
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup spaghetti sauce (your choice)
1 cup cooked vegetables
1/2 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

To do:
1. Preheat your oven on to 300 degrees and grease your loaf pan.

2. Boil the water in a medium pot; slowly add in the polenta, continually stirring so it doesn't clump. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and stir every few minutes to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of your pot. Once the polenta has significantly thickened, add in the pesto, olives and parmesan cheese; stir to incorporate and take off the stove.

3. Spoon and smooth 1/3 of the polenta in the loaf pan and layer with half the spaghetti sauce, then half the veggies, and lastly 1/2 of the beans. Repeat this, ending with the last 1/3 of the polenta on top.

3. Pop in the oven for about 15 minutes, until slightly hardened and "crusted" on top.

4. Let cool for a few minutes; slice and serve!

Itza Pizza!

 

That's right - deep breath, inhale, ahhhh. 

And yes, there is over 3 different kinds of tomatoes laid out on that pan of glory: jarred (spaghetti sauce), sun-dried, and fresh. Pizza is something my gluten-free main squeeze digs (who doesn't?), and the dish he misses most frequently. I had another pizza crust recipe in mind that requires almond flour, which unfortunately is sold too far away for me to go fetch. So I, knee-deep in a weeknight  pizza-crazed state, pulled out my long-lost Gluten-Free Vegetarian cookbook, and crossed my fingers it had some answers for me.

Then, page 83 came into my life and spot on - cornmeal pizza crust! This can actually be the bottom layer for anything you wish a nice, sturdy foundation on. It came together in about 30 minutes which makes it not only a great idea in general, but especially when you're low on time or near starving. 

 

Caprese Pizza with Cornmeal Crust

The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen

Makes 1  large rectangle pizza

Cornmeal Crust

2 cups course-ground yellow cornmeal

1 cup cold water

1 cup boiling water

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper

Toppings

1/2 cup prepared pasta sauce (we used spicy tomato)

sun-dried tomatoes

1 large, ripe tomato

7 basil leaves

1/2 sliced white onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

more mozzarella cheese

How You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees; lightly spray your baking sheet with oil.

2. In a large boil, mix together cornmeal and the cold water; slowly add in boiling water and whisk together for 3 minutes until it's cooled a little. 

3. Add in eggs, mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper; combine well.

4. Spread the cornmeal mixture into your baking pan and distribute evenly, smoothing out with a spatula; bake in the enter of the oven for about 10 minutes. (It's super fun once you start to see the bubbles start popping up!)

5. While the crust is cooking, get a saute pan heating up over medium heat with garlic, onion, and a little olive oil; saute it all together until cooked (you could even caramelize the onions here if you want - just cook the onions first and add in the garlic the last few minutes.)

6. Spread the pasta sauce over the crust and continue to layer on your tomatoes, basil, onion and garlic mixture and cheese; bake in the oven until cheese has melted and the pizza is bubblin'.

Polenta, Act 1

This is what I've been up to this past month of not blogging. Playing with polenta. Well corn meal, technically, which does a pretty darn good job of turning into polenta.

I've done a polenta-love post before, and this will definitely not be the last. In fact, shortly (read: hopefully less than a month) I will be posting an Act 2, because these are 2 recipes I am dying to share with you.

Corn meal is so easy I almost feel like I'm cheating when I cook with it. I don't know why, I guess I feel like I should be experimenting with gluten-free bread or making vegan pudding or some other things that seem a little too complicated the majority of the time.

Another corn meal trait that makes me want to jump and leap stars? It tastes good with anything. It's a great kitchen-sinker - throw whatever in the pot that you will be throwing away in your garbage tomorrow.

Sans wrapper.

and peel.

and maybe mold.

But anything else that hangs out with your food, yes! Throw it in! The pot wants it!

Mediterranean Polenta Casserole
Makes one 2 quart casserole

Polenta:
2 cups milk
1 3/4 cup cold tap water
2 Tb. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

Topping:
1/2 onion (any kind)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1.5 cups tomato soup
10 spears asparagus, cut into thirds
1 12oz. can tomatoes with juice
1/2 block tofu
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
dash of salt and pepper

Plus, 1/2 cup prepared pesto

1. Spray your casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Bring the milk, water, butter and salt to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.

3. Sprinkle in the cornmeal and continue stirring; reduce heat and let the mixture simmer about 35 minutes until it thickens. You will know the polenta is done when it plops off a spoon and when you scrape the bottom of the pot, the polenta doesn't immediately spill to the empty space.

4. Pour the polenta into your greased casserole dish and put into the fridge for cooling.

5. Now, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and pull out a skillet; begin to saute up the onion and garlic for a few minutes.

6. Once the onions begin to get soft, add in the tomato soup, asparagus, canned tomatoes, tofu, and seasonings; let mixture simmer over medium heat until asparagus begins to soften, about 10 minutes.

7. Once the tomato mix is warmed and done, pull the polenta out of the fridge. Spread the pesto on, and top with the warm tomato mixture.

8. Bake covered in the oven for 15 minutes; uncover and sprinkle with cheese for the last 5.

9. Devour!