Polenta With Roasted Garlic, Gorgonzola, and Walnuts

Phew. . . feels good to have the Monday after a holiday over with, doesn’t it? I had a great day! It started with a good workout and ended up being a quiet work day listening to Christmas music and getting a lot done. I am grateful for good work days. After work, the weather was raw and rainy, and I wanted something warm and comforting. Polenta was the perfect choice. I decided to make it with toasted walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, and roasted garlic. Ingredients 1 tube of organic polenta 1/2 cup to 1 cup crumbled gorgonzola 5 cloves of roasted garlic (roast in skins at 400 until soft and easily squeezed from skin) 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted in a dry skillet     I cut the polenta into discs and placed them in a pan of sizzling olive oil, then seasoned with ground black pepper.

My plan was to neatly top each disc with crumbled cheese, sliced roasted garlic, and walnuts, but that fell apart quickly. It didn’t look very pretty, but it tasted good!

I served this over a bed of romaine lettuce which, though I bought it only yesterday, is rapidly going bad. I don’t know if the lettuce was the perfect pairing for the polenta, but I hate wasting and wanted to use it up. It ended up tasting good and providing a nice crunch.

The mix of polenta, lettuce, and walnuts makes for a constant change in textures, and the gorgonzola and roasted garlic provide strong but complementary flavors. Polenta is another one of those ingredients that is extremely versatile and it sort of feels like a luxurious treat but only costs $2.99 for the entire tube. Next up, making my own polenta. . . but maybe not this week.