Polenta Triangles With Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 4 cups chicken stock or 4 cups vegetable stock or 4 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup polenta (not quick-cooking) or 1 cup yellow cornmeal (not stone ground)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, stems discarded
• 4 red bell peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded
• 1 poblano chiles (adjust to taste) or 1 jalapeno, roasted, peeled and seeded (adjust to taste)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 shallots
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock or 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, stems discarded
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated

Recipe

• 1 red pepper sauce:.
• 2 roast the red and poblano peppers whole over a gas flame, a charcoal flame or under a broiler, turning 1/4 rotation every few minutes, until entirely blackened.
• 3 immediately place in a paper bag, seal, and let sit for 3 minutes.
• 4 peel off the charred skin and discard.
• 5 slice the peeled peppers open and discard the membranes and seeds.
• 6 thinly slice two of the red peppers and set aside.
• 7 in a saute pan over medium heat, heat the butter and olive oil and add the shallots.
• 8 cook for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently, or until the shallots just begin to show signs of browning.
• 9 add the stock, 2 roasted bell peppers, poblano chili, and thyme. bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. (adjust heat as required to simmer.).
• 10 remove from heat and let cool.
• 11 in a food processor or blender (i use my kitchen 'motorboat'), add pan contents along with the lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
• 12 blend until smooth.
• 13 return to sauce pan and add remaining thinly sliced red pepper.
• 14 set aside.
• 15 polenta:.
• 16 in a large pot over medium-high heat, bring stock to a boil.
• 17 slowly pour in polenta, stirring constantly with a whisk as you add it.
• 18 reduce heat to moderately low and cook, stirring constantly, until polenta is smooth.
• 19 reduce to low heat, cover and cook until polenta is smooth, and no longer gritty on the tongue, about 30 minutes. just before finishing, stir in parmigiano–reggiano and thyme.
• 20 pour creamy polenta into lightly oiled round cake or pie pan using a rubber spatula to smooth the surface.
• 21 refrigerate polenta until completely cold and firm.
• 22 cut polenta into wedges and remove from pan with a spatula.
• 23 to bake:.
• 24 bake at 450 degrees for until lightly browned, approximately 10-12 minutes.
• 25 pan fried:.
• 26 add enough olive oil to completely coat the bottom of a large, heavy skillet and heat to medium.
• 27 add as many polenta triangles as you can without crowding the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden. sprinkle lightly with grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
• 28 to serve:.
• 29 just before serving, re-heat sauce in a saucepan and stir in cream.
• 30 ladle 1/2 cup of roasted red bell pepper sauce over each wedge. top with parmigiano-reggiano and serve immediately.