The starchy goodness of polenta makes it a favorite across many continents. In Italy (where this dish was invented) it’s often paired with tomatoes or tomato sauce. In this Summer Garden Polenta the creamy base gets topped with cherry tomatoes and all kinds of yummy veggies fresh from the garden. But, we’ll also give you some tips for making this in the chill of winter as well!

Why It’s So Delish

Polenta is a famously easy dish to make, especially since these days we have instant polenta. For this recipe we’re making it with some vegetable stock. This infuses every single bite of the dish with extra flavor and gives the corn a subtle umami richness.

After the polenta thickens is when we had some butter and some Parmesan cheese to really amp up the flavors.

How to Prepare This Dish

The tomatoes and fresh corn are pre-baked in the oven to get them nice and tender. Stand the corn cob on an upside down small bowl inside a larger bowl to cut the kernels off and collect them at the same time. This is so much cleaner than using a cutting board!

We’re adding some julienned (or finely diced) zucchini and yellow squash to a bowl then letting them sit with some lemon juice. The acid in the juice helps to sort of pre-cook the pieces and the thin strips will easily finish cooking when you bake the entire polenta.

The final bake is on low broil to give just a bit of brown color to the edges of the polenta and to finish cooking the veggies. To get a deep polenta that retains its moisture use a smaller, deeper pan. The one I used was 12” x 8” and 3” deep. For a thinner base and more surface area to hold veggies use a larger one like a jelly roll pan.

Substitutions

• Use any garden veggies you like here, just make sure they either cook with the corn and tomatoes or are thin enough to bake with the polenta.
• Use veggie stock or mix it up with beef or chicken stock.
• Mix in Parmesan cheese to the polenta or use a cheese of your choice. Hard cheeses are ideal for this dish because of their deep flavor. They also don’t become stringy due to their higher melting point.
• Use frozen corn or frozen veggies if you’re making this when they aren’t in season.
• If you’re short on time use sun-dried tomatoes on top instead of roasting your own.