Food for Fuel: Messy Polenta Pizza

October 8, 2008 at 9:41 am | Posted in Food, Pizza, Poultry, Seafood | 4 Comments

This week’s Blogger Secret Ingredient is polenta, a fantastic ingredient picked by RhodeyGirl. I like polenta but do not have much experience making it. Stupidly, I decided to experiment with it anyway and turn it into a pizza crust. The results did not look like a pizza, but were delicious nonetheless!

I wanted to make just a single serving, so I boiled 3/4 cup of water and whisked in 1/4 cup cornmeal. Following RhodeyGirl’s tip, I whisked the entire time, eventually switching to a wooden spoon as it thickened. I meant to season the polenta while it was on the stove, but I forgot and had to mix in the following after removing it from heat:

• Garlic powder
• Basil
• Oregano
• Chopped sun-dried tomatoes

I spread it out in a casserole dish and put it in the refrigerator to chill.

Next, I preheated the oven to 450*. I sprayed a skillet and added a Laughing Cow cheese wedge, thinking it would melt. Instead, it started to burn and get all gross. I immediately added baby spinach and mixed it quickly with the cheese. I kept adding more baby spinach as it wilted, and eventually added another wedge of cheese and a little jarred minced garlic. After most of the spinach wilted, I added sliced mushrooms and zucchini for a few minutes.

I cooked a small amount of chicken on my George Forman, but it was a really tiny piece, so I also added some pre-cooked frozen shrimp.

I topped my polenta crust with my creamy veggie mixture, chicken, and shrimp and baked for 10 minutes. Then I topped the pizza with fresh mozzarella, grated fresh parmesan, and bagged fat-free mozzarella. I put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so.

Looks like a pizza, yes? But, the crust never got crispy enough, and I couldn’t get it out of the dish without it getting all floppy and gooey. I meant to take a picture of this, but apparently I was too busy stuffing my face with the cheesy, pizza-TASTING meal. It was still good!

So, maybe I should have pan-fried the polenta before baking? Any tips? I want a polenta crust, darn it!

Nutrition of this Meal

This meal contains 11 ingredients from the World’s Healthiest Foods list:

• Garlic
• Mushrooms
• Spinach
• Summer squash
• Shrimp
• Chicken
• Low-fat cheese
• Tomatoes
• Corn
• Basil
• Oregano