# My first polenta dish **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-polenta-dish/485903 "2009-02-15T02:45:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-polenta-dish/485903/1 "2009-02-15T02:45:15Z")
OK I’ve had the Mexican sweet tamales, which is kind-of polenta. And I may have had polenta sometime in the past without knowing it. But tonight I made my first polenta dish, and possibly ate my first actual polenta. No, I didn’t make it from scratch. I got a chub from Trader Joe’s and used that. I cut the chub into nine slices and put the slices in a 3x3 grid in a 9"x9" glass baking dish that I had sprayed with cooking spray. I added half a jar of Trader Giotto’s Bolognese con Carne pasta sauce and topped with freshly-grated Romano cheese. I baked it in the convection toaster oven at 350º for 25 minutes, and then topped a couple of rounds with more Romano when I put them on my plate. Very tasty! I’ll have to figure out more ways to use the stuff. And eventually I’ll have to try making it from scratch. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-polenta-dish/485903/2 "2009-02-15T03:14:06Z")
take the polenta puck and fry gently in the leavings from bacon, and scramble a couple eggs to go along, put the eggs on the polenta and surround with bacony yumminess… take the polenta puck, fry in butter, top with a medallion of butter sauteed foie gras, or top with sauteed onions, or top with chili, or top with curry … ---
**Author:** ![stucco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@stucco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stucco)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-polenta-dish/485903/3 "2009-02-15T03:28:51Z")
I made polenta-tamale pie tonight. I cooked a can of black beans in a skillet with salsa and chopped red bell pepper. Then I poured the beans in a 9x9 glass dish, sprinkled it with shredded jack cheese and then layered the premade polenta-pucks on top. I baked the whole thing at 325 for about half an hour. It was delicious. I’m not really sure if bean -\> cheese -\> polenta was the right order of things. I thought it might be kind of like shepherd’s pie, with the starchy component on top of the rest of the ingredients. But I think layering polenta -\> bean -\> cheese would make things come together a bit better. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-polenta-dish/485903/4 "2009-02-15T04:11:20Z")
Next time you’re in Trader Joe’s, check out their Chicken Sausage Polenta Lasagna; quite tasty, IMHO.