| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 50 min |
| Active: | 50 min |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking polenta, medium- or coarse-grain
- 1 cup crumbled queso blanco cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey, for serving
- 1 lime, halved
Instructions
- Combine the milk, salt and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and slowly whisk in the polenta. Cook, whisking constantly, until the polenta tightens and there are no lumps, about 4 minutes. Stir in the queso blanco, butter, cilantro, pepper and jalapeno. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- Generously butter a 9-by-9-inch baking pan. Pour the polenta into the pan and set aside to cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, until firm.
- Preheat a griddle pan over medium heat. Invert the polenta onto a clean cutting board and slice it into nine 3-inch squares. Brush the squares on both sides with the olive oil, then griddle them until golden brown and warmed through, about 3 minutes per side. While warm, drizzle the polenta cakes with the honey and squeeze lime juice over the top. Serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 300 |
| Total Fat | 17 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 31 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Cholesterol | 28 mg |
| Sodium | 242 mg |
Reviews
Delicious! Family favorite. I make it vegan by using soy milk and daiya cheese.
Thanks for the pesto tip!
Haha! I’m not so sure this came out right, but it was really good! I think I might have used too much liquid, cuz when I fried them up, they got kind of melty instead of crispy. I had wanted to try polenta for a while, so I’d already had it when I saw this recipe. I didn’t say anywhere on the package that it was quick cooking, so I’m not sure it made a difference. But we did really like it!
It was hard to find polenta. I couldn’t find it at Walmart. I finally found it at my local Giant in the natural foods isle. This was pretty easy to make. I couldn’t find queso blanco so I substituted Monterey Jack cheese. I don’t own a 9×9 pan so I just let it cool and mold in a glass pie plate. I refrigerated it for two hours, fried in on the stove with some olive oil, and served it with honey and lime for dinner. It was good, but really heavy. It was definitely better then next day when I reheated it in the microwave. It think it was because it didn’t taste as heavy the next day. So, in the future, I will make this a day ahead of time then serve it. Good recipe.
I have never eaten polenta like this, usually eat it soft. But I will make this dish again. I served it with the meatloaf from the same show and this was a delicious meal. I did put some of the cilantro pesto on the polenta cake and that was a nice addition.
YUMMMMMM!!!! This is a really nice way to serve polenta for people (like my hubby) who think they don’t like polenta! I made it last night, stuck it in the refrigerator and had it tonight with tacos. He LOVED it–so do I. Omitted the cilantro (hate it!) but it was still really good.