Simple Gluten Free Kitchen

Polenta Cakes with Crunchy Cilantro Pesto

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Today is such a beautiful day that I thought to share with you an equally beautiful snack that is super easy, healthier and fun to make – ‘Polenta‘. It can be made from semolina or cornmeal. Both have the same comforting quality however, polenta made from semolina lacks the the sunny yellow hue of corn and is not gluten free.

 

 

Polenta is delicious and versatile food that can be prepared in so many different ways-soft, firm, crisp, sweet and savory. Being gluten free I make a lot of polenta and if you ever come to my house you will get to eat it in some form. Don’t worry, I know you will love the taste, that’s how good it is.

Most recipes say to cook polenta for quite a bit of time, which I am not sure why? I cook mine for not more than 10-15 minutes and it always comes out nice. Immediately after cooking, polenta is soft and creamy. It can be served as is, usually as a bed for stir fry or sauces or it can be allowed to firm up and cut into different shapes. At this point polenta can be refrigerated or frozen in Ziploc bags with wax paper in between them. Or the firm pieces can be grilled or  fried and served at once in place of bread and topped with something delightful.

 

 

Polenta’s light and fresh corn flavor adapts to a variety of accompaniments and can be as rustic or as elegant as you want. For this recipe, I cut the polenta into round cakes and topped with a summer flavored pesto. One thing about cutting in round shapes though is that you always end up with leftover bits from sides. Fear not, freeze the leftovers and I will post another recipe very soon. To make sure, you do not miss that post, subscribe to my blog thru email in the right hand corner or join me on Facebook or twitter. Thanks and enjoy the recipe!

 

 

 

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Polenta Cakes with Crunchy Cilantro Pesto

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 12 cakes

A quite delicious and easy summer appetizer.

Ingredients

    For Polenta
  • 2 cups water
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup certified gluten free coarse cornmeal
  • 1 tbsp chopped onion
  • 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
  • 1 tbsp oil
    • For Crunchy Cilantro Pesto
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves
  • 1 chopped garlic clove
  • 1/3 cup toasted walnuts pieces
  • salt to taste
  • 1 small green chilli
  • 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tbsp olive oil ( more if you prefer)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Grease (not essential) a baking sheet or a Pyrex dish or line it with silicon covered baking sheet or aluminum foil. Set aside.
  2. Heat oil in a thick bottom pan. Saute onion.
  3. Add water. Bring it to boil with salt.
  4. Add cornmeal in a steady stream. Whisking quickly as you do so.
  5. Turn the heat down and stir occasionaly bringing the mixture up from the bottom and loosening from the sides.
  6. After about 5-7 minutes it forms a soft mass that pulls from sides, stir in chopped cilantro. Turn off the heat.
  7. Spoon out polenta onto prepared sheet. Smooth down to a thickness of about 1/2".
  8. Allow to cool while you prepare the topping.
  9. Add cilantro, walnuts, garlic, green chilli, salt and lemon juice to a food processor bowl. Pulse few times.
  10. Scrape from sides Add Parmesan cheese and olive oil. Pulse again until coarse.
  11. Remove crunchy cilantro pesto in a bowl.
  12. Once the polenta is cooled and firm, cut into 2" squares or use a cookie cutter to cut out pieces.
  13. Heat a ridged griddle pan over medium heat. Brush polenta cakes with oil or use your fingers to rub oil on both sides.
  14. Once the pan is hot, cook on each side for 1 minute to get grill marks.
  15. Remove the cakes from the pan and place on a serving platter.
  16. Top it with crunchy cilantro pesto.
https://www.simpleglutenfreekitchen.com/2013/06/polenta-cakes-with-crunchy-cilantro-pesto.html

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bal , I love the shape of your the polenta cakes , so pretty ! The cilantro dressing itself sounds delicious . Since , I can’t find a bunch of basil at a reasonable price here , I’ll just use cilantro ( which I really love and dirt-cheap in this side of the world ) in making pesto 🙂

    Reply

    • Cilantro is dirt cheap at our place, too and tastes really good in this pesto, you won’t miss basil.

      Reply

  2. Delicious and beautiful! Grilling the polenta gives them a little extra flavor and love that crunch pesto. I think that lots of delicious topping would make a perfect topping. Happy Weekend to you. Take Care, BAM

    Reply

    • On one of my daughter’s birthday I made polenta bar and the girls had fun choosing their own topping. Grilling definitely gives crisp coating and extra flavor to soft polenta.
      I was just came by drooling over that drunken cherries desert at your blog. got to make it for father’s day. Have a great week ahead!

      Reply

  4. I can’t remember and don’t remember tasting polenta. Maybe I did when I was traveling overseas. Never used and prepared anything polenta, the nearest was suji. But these cakes are stunning and most of all, I adore the pesto for its awesome combo of ingredients.

    Reply

    • When I was a kid I never had cornmeal polenta but my mother used to make sweet semolina snack and then I experimented making savory polenta, although we never called it by different name. I like the cilantro pesto as it goes with other dishes too.

      Reply

  5. I just bought cornmeal recently to make polenta but it’s still in the pantry. I was planning to cook it just as you described – first as a bed for some meat or stew and then to cut the rest into shapes to saute for another meal. I love your bright yellow polenta cakes and it’s definitely inspiring me to get cooking soon! Also glad to hear you don’t need to cook it too long.

    Reply

  7. I cook mine not more then 5 minutes and it starts bubbling up and making a mess, no idea why the recipes said that. You know when I came here first I was trying to hunt down polenta in goa. Nobody knew what I was talking about so I had a hard time. Then they showed me semolina. It looked white and wrong but I tried it and left it. lol it’s just not polenta!
    Polenta is in my blood and a food I grew up with. I am always looking for new recipes and your cakes with pesto are on my menu plan soon!

    Reply

    • Yes, the actual time of stirring polenta (if using 1/2 cup) is not more than 5 minutes. I used to eat semolina squares as a kid e but when I tried the grilled cornmeal polenta, for sure it tasted better. Glad to know that you are thinking to make this recipe.

      Reply

  9. Looks delicious Balvinder…I love the polenta as a base and the crunchy cilantro pesto…like cilantro in everything 😀
    Thanks for the recipe and have a lovely week!

    Reply

  12. oh tiny little polenta cakes! How genius of you and to use them as a base for the pesto. I love it. If you get a chance please come by and enter my giveaway! I really want to help get this company as many likes on facebook as possible!

    Reply

  17. Like Nava, I don’t recall having tasted polenta too. They look like potato patties & I love your presentation, dear! Send some over for me to try, won’t you??

    Reply

  19. This polenta looks soo scrumptious. My daddy is in the kitchen making this right now. He even went gourmet and added green onions.

    Reply

  22. This is such a delicious sounding and interesting recipe! What a lovely snack these little cakes would make. And I love the addition of the cilantro, probably my favourite herb. Thank you for bringing it to #CookBlogShare:)

    Reply

  25. I’ve been in the mood for polenta lately. I bought a bag of polenta corn meal, but seem to just keep looking at it. This recipe looks delicious and will be perfect.

    Reply

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