Polenta Casserole

Ingredients

2 tubes pre cooked polenta or 2 cups homemade polenta from a GF mix
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 minced garlic cloves
1/2 cup pitted, chopped kalamata olives
1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (the more the better, I say)
1/3 cup fresh pinenuts
3/4 cup freshly shredded parmesan

Instructions

Heat a dry pan to medium heat, and add pine nuts to toast them. Keep an eye on the pan as they will start to burn quickly. Toss the pine nuts repeatedly until they are toasted a pale to medium brown on at least one side. Remove pine nuts from heat and set aside.

In very large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat until it shimmers. Add in the minced garlic cloves, the olives, and sun-dried tomatoes. Let saute for 5-7 minutes for the garlic to cook and the flavors to come together.

Slice the polenta onto the mixture. I use a potato masher to break up the polenta into a nice mixture with the other ingredients. Add in the pine nuts and the basil and continue to saute and blend the polenta with the other ingredients for another 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat, and fold in the grated parmesan romano cheese.

Once well blended, pour the contents into an 8×8 casserole dish and bake at 350 for 20-25 mins. Serve with additional grated parmesan romano cheese on top.

You can skip the oven portion of this recipe if you just gotta eat. I won’t be mad at you. Plus, it’s even better the next day because the flavors will settle together so nicely. This dish makes a great GF alternative to pan stuffing, too.