Creamy Polenta

We really shook things up here last night – because Friday is usually pizza and movie night. But there is such a short window of great weather in Vegas, we have to grab it while we can – soon enough (like next week) it will be over 100 degrees and too hot to sit outside. The pool was warm enough for the kids – but not warm enough for me, I won’t go in unless the temperature is over 100. I like to just walk in, kind of like getting into a bathtub. I know, I know, wah, wah, wah.

David had an itch to make meatballs, which turned into meatball subs, and then he used some of the meat mixture to stuff peppers for another nights dinner. I had a recipe for a polenta casserole that I was dying to try, and I found some leftover cacciatore sauce in the freezer from our last round of Rao’s cooking. The sauce was just peppers and onions and delicious San Marzano tomatoes. Once you try these tomatoes, there’s no going back to another brand. They are so smooth and don’t have that strong acidic taste with regular supermarket canned tomatoes.

But back to the meatballs – David was inspired by Rachel Ray’s recipe for meatballs, in which she mixes ricotta cheese with the meat. It really keeps them moist and light -

After baking the meatballs, they were ready to snuggle up with a blanket of provolone cheese in a nice soft bed:

I had to snap the picture quickly because this was about to be devoured.Here’s my polenta casserole. I used Emeril’s recipe as a base, heating up milk and water (instead of broth), stirring in the cornmeal, then adding parmesan cheese and eggs. I think next time I’ll either double the amount of polenta or use a smaller pan. It was a little thin.

Then I covered it with the pepper/onion sauce:

Delizioso!

Creamy Polenta – adapted from Emeril Lagasse

2 cups milk
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 cup polenta or fine yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk

Combine the milk, water, salt, and pepper in a large pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Whisk in the polenta. Once the mixture begins to thicken, reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the polenta is tender, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and scraping down the sides of the pot, about 10 minutes. Add the Parmesan and stir to blend. Remove from the heat and stir to cool for 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the eggs and egg yolk in a medium bowl and whisk until frothy.
Add 1/2 cup of the polenta to the eggs (to temper) and whisk to blend. Gradually add the egg mixture to the rest of the polenta (in about 3 additions), stirring constantly. Continue to stir vigorously for another 2 minutes. Spread into oiled casserole dish and top with sauce. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.