Crispy Polenta Squares with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce

This is one of my family's favorite dinners. Polenta is so easy to make and it really is delicious. I usually cut the polenta into squares - but sometimes for a special treat I use cookie cutters for the kids....stars, hearts, butterflies....you can make it fun! 

The polenta recipe comes from The Vegan Bible cookbook by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.  When I make this dish I do make it vegan.....but you could easily use regular milk instead of non-dairy milk and you can also use powdered Parmesan cheese instead of nutritional yeast (but let me just tell you this recipe as is is just incredible- don't let the word "vegan" scare you!!)  

If you need a fast sauce you can certainly use regular marina sauce from a jar (we always eat Rao's because it's the best). But I like to shake my sauce up a bit and add a jar of roasted red bell peppers to the jarred sauce.

I serve this with a side side. Enjoy!

Polenta Ingredients:
2 cups water
2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups polenta or coarse cornmeal
1/4 cup milk or almond milk or any non-dairy milk
1 to 2 tsp salt
3 Tbl nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil <I use a jar of finely chopped sun dried tomatoes bc my children prefer smooth sun dried tomatoes over chunks>
2 Tbl fresh chopped basil
2 Tbl chopped parsley <I use dried>
1 tsp olive oil

Sauce Ingredients:
2 cups marinara sauce (I like Rao's)
1 7oz jar of roasted red bell peppers (or homemade if you like)
1/4 cup milk or non-dairy milk
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Pinch of salt

Directions:
Heat water and broth to boiling in a 4 quart saucepan. When the water/broth has boiled, add polenta and stir frequently on low-medium heat using a whisk- be careful that the pot doesn't boil over. Slowly add "milk", salt, and nutritional yeast, and whisk until the liquid is absorbed and the polenta thickens, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, basil and parsley, stir for one minute more and remove from heat. Taste and add more salt if necessary.

Pour the thickened polenta into a greased 9X12 pan and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Let the polenta set up for about an hour or two.

Heat the oven to 400F.

Cut the polenta into squares or use a large cookie cutter to punch out shapes. Grease a foil lined baking sheet with 1/2 tsp olive oil. Place polenta pieces onto foil and brush the remaining oil on top. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Flip polenta to the other side and bake for another 10-15 minutes until crispy on the outside and soft in the center.

To make the sauce - place all sauce ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Heat in a saucepan. Serve warm with baked polenta.