Happy Belly Baked Polenta

I pulled two leeks out of my otherwise empty garden this morning and deciding what to do with them led me to make this soothing baked polenta dish. There are so many ways this recipe could be varied so I'm going to include all the ingredients I think you could put in it.

First, make the polenta (recipe to come soon!). Pour your hot polenta into an oiled pie pan or other ovensafe dish. If you want to make this even quicker, you could also use one of those tubes of prepared polenta. Just slice it into rounds and cover the bottom of your baking dish with them. Set the polenta to the side and let it firm up while you prepare your toppings.

Next choose your toppings. I'd recommend picking at least 4 of these in some combination that sounds good to you.

a couple cloves of garlic, minced

2 thinly sliced leeks (well washed, please)

1 small carrot, sliced into thin rounds

3 or 4 collard leaves, sliced into thin ribbons (or chard, kale, spinach, etc...)

*4 or 5 canned artichoke hearts, halved

*1/2 cup chopped olives

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped broccoli

*1 cup garbanzo or white beans

a link of veggie sausage, thinly sliced or chopped

You also want a jar of your favorite marinara sauce, about 1 1/2 to 2 cups worth.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add any ingredients you've chosen, unless they have a start beside them which means you want to wait to add these til just before you put it all in the oven. Saute your toppings for about 10 minutes, until nicely softened and browned. Now you can stir in any starred items and cook for another minute or so, just to heat them through.

Pour all of this evenly over your polenta. Pour the marinara sauce over everything.

Cover your dish with a lid or aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.


Sloppy but good. : )