Polenta Napoletana

I am usually somewhat a purist when it comes to pizza, taking something as delicious as pizza and substituting the delicious chewy dough base, browned and bubbling, for some ground up cauliflower, arguably the blandest vegetable. That said, this recipe, which uses baked polenta is wonderful, and I give it a pass because its creation came not from a desire to cut out carbs or to lose weight, but simply because it is so delicious.

Start by heating a litre of water in a large saucepan to a rolling boil, and dissolve in two stock cubes, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and some dried oregano, sprinkle in the polenta whisking rapidly until the polenta is smooth and the whisk will stand up in the polenta without falling over.

Spread the polenta over an oiled swiss roll tin, with a palette knife until it is smooth and covers the whole tine, and bake it in a very hot oven for about half an hour until it is crisp and the top has hardened slightly.

For the topping you can choose pretty much whatever you want, I use a concentrated tomato puree as the base, and cover it with cherry tomatoes, cut in half and placed cut side up.

For the other toppings, you pretty much let your imagination run wild, This can be a good dish to use whatever you have in the fridge, here I use mushrooms, black olives, feta cheese, and then a couple of balls of torn mozzarella. Drizzle with extra virgin oil and season with some sea salt flakes, and some freshly ground pepper.

Bake again in a hot oven until the tomatoes have become burnished and shiny, and the cheese is melted. Serve cut into wedges with a fresh green salad.

ingredients

for the polenta base:
250g dry polenta
2 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tsp dried Oregano
salt & pepper, to taste

for the topping:
tomato concentrate
mushrooms, sliced
feta cheese, crumbled
pitted black olives
cherry tomatoes, halved
mozzarella balls, torn
olive oil
salt & pepper