Fresh summer tomatoes are highlighted and used to their full potential in this recipe. It is a wonderful accompaniment to grilled chicken or pork chops.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups water
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup quick-cooking polenta
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 fresh basil leaves, chopped
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter, chilled and cut into pieces
- 2 tomatoes, sliced
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish.
- Place the water, milk, and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the polenta and stir with a wooden spoon until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup Parmesan cheese and 2 chopped basil leaves; season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the polenta to the prepared baking dish and arrange the remaining chilled pieces of butter over the top.
- Bake the polenta in the preheated oven until bubbly and beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Decoratively arrange the slices of tomato over the top of the polenta, spread the remaining basil leaves over the tomatoes, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
- Return to the oven and bake until the tomatoes are warm and the Parmesan cheese is bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 428 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 38 g |
| Cholesterol | 57 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 22 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 1013 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 21 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Added sauteed onions- layered under the tomatoes. Would do that again. Nice side dish w/ lemon/pepper chx thighs
We used grits but otherwise we followed the recipe. It was excellent. Thanks for sharing will be making this again.
I made this the first time exactly as written and it was great! I made it the second time adding a sliced onion sauteed in butter to the top of the polenta under the sliced tomatoes (I also added a shredded Italian cheese blend to the top) and it was even better! This recipe is so delicious, we added it to our meal rotation! It’s great as a meatless meal as well as a side dish. A+++
Quite tasty, I had to substitute a general dried herb mix for the basil because I didn’t have any, and I added sausage to please the carnivores in my family. I think it would be delicious as written though and plan on making it according to the directions next time. Thanks for sharing this!
These are heavenly
This always turns out good. Since my husband can’t eat too much tomato, I usually only place sliced tomatoes on half a side.
I had prepackaged polenta which I sliced and followed the rest of the recipe. I added some crisp bacon. It was good but not spectacular. The Guys I work with certainly enjoyed it though 🙂
tastyyyy I loved it, even without the tomatoes
This is perfect for tomato season! Like others, I tweaked it a bit. Using the polenta in a tube I baked it with olive oil at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Then covered it with chopped fresh yellow squash, diced tomatoes from the garden, green onions, black beans and covered with parmesan and mozzarella for 20-25 minutes. It was delicious. Also, I had run out of basil and substituted dried oregano.
This was great! I’ve been looking for a recipe like this for a long time, so glad I finally found it! Next time I’m going to try making a few adjustments and make a polenta pizza.
I made this recipe as is (except I diced the tomatoes and subbed chicken broth for water), and I really didn’t like it. However, I think it has a lot of potential. Changes I would make: use maybe a half cup of heavy cream in place of 1/2 cup of milk, use chicken broth in place of water, dice the tomatoes, use more basil. Do not sprinkle the basil over the tomatoes, put it under. If you put it on top, the basil will get dry and crispy. Lastly, and most importantly, DO NOT stir the polenta/cornmeal right into the boiling liquid!!!! I did this part without thinking and the dish was extremely lumpy. You must whisk the polenta into the cold liquid, then bring to a boil. Whisk often as you heat it.
I used red flint Floriani polenta. I have it already made up and can make single serving dishes this way. I added Manchego cheese instead of Parmesan and just melted it in the polenta and added the tomatoes, basil, and more cheese to my dish. And viola a very tasty and quick meal!
I made the recipe exactly as is and loved it! I have tried the premade polenta in the tube before and did not like it, but thought I would give this a try and both myself and my roommate really liked it. Fresh basil from the herb garden made it extra good.
This was a different way for us to eat polenta, and we enjoyed it. I used all water in the polenta, that’s the way my grandfather taught me (he was born in Italy.) Polenta is made with a 3 to 1 ratio of water to polenta. You can always add water, but you can’t take it away is how I was taught. Butter is a must, and maybe a little more cheese (I use Asiago.)
Polenta….something new for us tonight. I had two different polenta recipes that I wanted to try tonight, so I made a half batch of each. This was nice and moist with crispy, chewy edges. I liked the outside of this dish and DH liked the inside of the dish. Other than halving the recipe, I made as written and will do so the next time.
I use a whole 9 oz box of instant polenta with 11/2 cups of half and half and 3 cups of water. I use olive oil instead of butter and add 2 tsps. of dried basil when adding the Parmesan. I put this in a 9×13 baking dish and follow the recipe except for using a liberal sprinkling of dried basil after salting the tomatoes.
This recipe is very good. The changes i made, as one other reviewer did, was to sub the parm for a blend of Italian cheeses…..I also diced up fresh garlic and marinated the tomatoes and basil with the garlic, in olive oil……served with a red sauce(not bought in a store) and it was very good.
This recipe was awesome! I made a few tweaks by using half vegetable broth instead of all water to boil the polenta. Also, in addition to the sliced tomatoes, I topped with thinly sliced red onions and probably used more than the recommended fresh basil. And added just about 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar / mozzarella cheese to the shredded parmesan sprinkled on top for the last 10 minutes. I served this as main dish with a green salad and it was a great combination. Next time I’ll dial down on the calories by trying low/no fat substitutes, but had to try it this way first. Too yummy!
This was good, my first attempt at polenta and now I’m hooked. Plan to try making it in a rice cooker next, I’ve heard it super easy!
Delicious! Quick to make, but still flavorful. I substituted an Italian cheese blend, because we’re not too fond of plain parmesan.
Great change from pasta or potatoes for side.