I originally got the recipe for
fried polenta from my friend Sarah (who is currently doing a crowd funding campaign to open a vegan café in Duisburg, Germany.
Check out the campaign website!) - and hers are still far superior to mine. At least visually. But I'm working on the presentation aspect!
Ingredients:
- 800ml of veggie stock (check the polenta packaging in case the suggested amount of liquid differs from this)
- 200g of polenta
- 6 small onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 150g dried tomatoes
- lots of fresh basil
- salt, black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper
Instructions:
- Cut the onions in fine cubes, roast them in a pan.
- Cook the polenta in the veggie stock.
- Cut up dried tomatoes (which have rested on a paper towel for a little bit as to soak up the excess oil!) and the basil.
- Once the polenta is cooked, add the spices: salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika.
- Chop the garlic finely and add it to the polenta.
- Add the tomatoes, basil, and roasted onions to the polenta.
- Cover a baking sheet or other flat surface with cling film.
- Spread polenta on the baking sheet. (thickness: ca. 1cm/ a little less than half an inch)
- Cover in cling film.
- Allow to cool down entirely.
- Once the polenta has cool down, cut it in small pieces.
- Fry the polenta pieces in a pan. I tried this in a stainless steel pan before and it turn out horrible. This may be telling of my skills regarding frying things in stainless steel pans, ... or the polenta just turns out better in a nonstick pan.
- The frying process takes quite a while! Expect to fry each piece of polenta for a minimum of 2 minutes from each side!
- Once the polenta has a nice roast on each side, you can place it on a paper towel.
- Fried polenta is a great addition to bentos, party buffets, any event that requires finger food, or just your ordinary lunch. They taste great cold and hot!
- My friend Sarah makes the polenta with fresh arugula. I replaced the arugula with onions, because arugula isn't really in season right now.
