Polenta Crostini | Grilled Polenta

Ingredients

• 200g Polenta (Merchant Gourmet – 1min cooking polenta)
• 800ml water
• 15g butter
• 1tsp garlic powder (or dried chopped garlic) – approximately…depends on how garlicky you want it! (you can also do it without garlic, if you’d prefer)
• Salt (to taste)
• A few sprays of Fry Light Spray Cooking Oil – Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 Equipment

• 1 baking tray, approximately 25cm long x 15cm wide by 3-4 cm high
• 1  medium saucepan (ideally non-stick coated)
• Enough greaseproof paper to line the baking tray

Method

1. Prepare the baking tray with the greaseproof paper (the paper will just lie over the tray for now – don’t worry about making it fit INTO the tray as the weight of the polenta will soon do that)
2. Place the water, salt, butter & garlic (if using) into the saucepan & bring to the boil
3. Pour in the polenta in a steady stream, taking care to stir continuously as it can easily form lumps (be careful, Polenta bubbles volcanically so take care to avoid burning yourself!)
4. Turn the heat down once you’ve added all the polenta powder
5. Keep stirring for up to 5 mins (until it becomes almost too difficult to stir and the mixture is very thick)
6. Immediately pour the polenta onto the greaseproof paper on the baking tray, making sure you spread it out evenly and into all the edges & corners – do this quickly as it will set very fast
7. Leave the polenta in the tray to cool until it has set completely (you can make this hours in advance, or even a day in advance – if you do the latter, refrigerate until you need it)

Once the polenta has set, cut it into 8 equal rectangles, place it on a grill-pan, spray with the Fry Light and grill on a medium heat until heated through, then turn up the heat to brown/crisp up the surface (don’t let it burn, just get it to a nice golden crispy texture), then turn it over and spray the other side & grill that on a high heat, too.  If you do this from room temperature, the whole grilling process will take approximately 20 mins.

You can also do this on a barbeque or a griddle pan.

This dish is very versatile and delicious on its own or served with a variety of hot or cold toppings, e.g. tomato salad, mushroom stroganoff, creamy turkey & petits pois or anything else that takes your fancy…

Gloriously Good!