Fun with Polenta

Last night I tried to prepare a simple side dish of grilled polenta with mozzarella and pasta sauce.  Unfortunately, I don’t think I grilled them very well. I let the slices cook for about 4 minutes on each side on fairly high heat (I was using an indoor grill pan) with some olive oil, but they didn’t turn out quite brown. Regardless, I took them off the grill and placed them in the broiling pan, topped each slice with a dollop of marinara sauce and some shredded mozzarella, and popped them in the broiler for 2 minutes.

They turned out OK, but I think they could be better.

Tonight I think I’ll try another batch, but maybe this time fry the suckers with butter in my trusty cast-iron pan.

Cheesy Zucchini

I made this zucchini side dish last night for some friends I had over for dinner. The basic recipe was taken from Giada DeLaurentiis’ Everyday Italian(the only variation I made were the types of cheese I used).

One pound of zucchini
2/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup freshly grated fontina cheese
2/3 cup shredded cheese (I used a four-cheese blend with mozzarella and more fontina)
2/3 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
2/3 cup plain bread crumbs
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom and sides of an 9-inch square baking dish.

Cut the zucchini cross-wise into 1-inch thick slices. Place a single layer of zucchini in the baking dish and sprinkle salt and pepper suited to your tastes (though 1/4 teaspon of each is suggested). Pour 1/3 cup of heavy cream over the zucchini. Add 1/3 cup each of the three cheeses, followed by a 1/3 cup of the bread crumbs. Repeat until you’re out of zucchini with a layer of bread crumbs on top. (With the amount I had, I made two layers; if you end up having more zucchini for another layer, just repeat with another 1/3 of the ingredients.)

Place dish on a baking sheet and place in the center of the oven. Cook for 40 minutes, until the bread cumbs on top have turned golden. Serve, and enjoy!

(The layers can be arranged in the baking dish for up to 8 hours. This helped me time it just right for when the main dish was going to be done. Just cover the baking dish and refrigerate. Take it out 10 minutes prior to putting it in the oven.)