Spinach Polenta
Growing up in the South (which one of my friends informed me is incorrect; according to her, Texas is part of the West, not part of the South), and (more to the point) with a mother who grew up in Georgia, I was raised to eat grits on a regular basis. I never got into the whole oatmeal thing in the morning; give me a salty, buttery bowl of grits over your best fruity, sweet oatmeal any day.
Having said that, my culinary experience hasn’t traditionally stretched very far into the polenta field. Polenta, which is a more solid–and Italian–form of grits, has always been something I’ve enjoyed while out, and once or twice I’ve made it. But generally, I’ve left polenta to the peeps whose last names would fit in on the Jersey Shore cast list.
But something sparked my imagination the other day, and I realized that it had been far too long since I made polenta. I don’t even know what it was; suddenly, halfway through a run, the thought lodged itself in my mind and wouldn’t let go. So home I ran (literally) and pulled out my package of corn grits to make polenta.
I jazzed this polenta up a bit with spinach, but otherwise it’s pretty standard Italian fare. Often people top polenta with fresh tomato sauce, and that makes a sweet addition to this dish. Though you can’t see it in the photos, I did top mine with freshly crushed tomatoes. And though I didn’t add cheese, parmasan is also a traditional topping for polenta.
Either way, this polenta was good enough for me to consider changing my last name to Polizzi. (Ok, not really.)
I never thought to add spinach to polenta. Thanks for the great idea!
I’m all about spinach. In everything. In every way. Is there anything I won’t put spinach in? I’m sure there is, but I haven’t found it yet. 😉
i add spinach to everything – i love this!
I add it in everything, too! I adore spinach! 🙂
I really have to try this. Polenta is one of those things that I’ll order when I’m out but I never make on my own. Time to bite the bullet, this looks so delicious!
PS – I have the same problem with saying “the south” because I’m from Kentucky which a lot of people don’t consider the south, but my hometown is at the very bottom in Appalachia and so everyone from there says it’s the south. I dunno. All I know is that I miss it a lot 🙂
I’d definitely consider Kentucky the South–even the part that’s basically Cincinnati. And, food-wise, I’m definitely Southern because even if you don’t consider Texas the South (I do), I learned to cook from my mother and grandmother’s recipes, and they’re both from Georgia.
I dearly miss polenta…especially eaten with parmesan.
Polenta’s something that I can go long periods without, but every once in a while, I’m just like, “I think I’ll have it today.” 🙂
I love polenta (it’s gluten-free!) but always feel guilty about it because it’s just not that good for me. This recipe looks amazing — I like the addition of the spinach and the use of olive oil instead of butter. I’m going to try it out.
Hey, Andrea. I’m all about olive oil instead of butter. It adds a layer of flavor to the polenta that’s so Italian. 🙂 And you know me: I’m all about the stuff that’s naturally gluten-free, which polenta is. Woohoo!
I want some of that polenta…it looks DELICIOUS!!