Baked Polenta with 4 Cheeses

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

2 cups polenta*

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 1/2 oz Havarti cheese, sliced

3 1/2 oz mascarpone** cheese

3 1/2 oz blue cheese, crumbled

7 Tbsp butter, thinly sliced

*Polenta is also known as cornmeal, and may be marked as such at your grocery store.

**Mascarpone is a creamed Italian cheese. It may be difficult to find at a regular grocery store, but my significant other was able to find it at Whole Foods.

Directions

1. Put the vegetable stock a 2 cups of water in a large pot and bring to a boil.

2. Add the polenta and stir continuously for 10 minutes until very thick and smooth. You want to try to get the lumps out; in my case, I stirred the polenta while my significant other mashed it with a potato masher, which worked pretty well.

3. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the Parmesan. (Save the other 1/2 cup to sprinkle on top later).

4. Brush a 7 cup loaf tin with oil. Spread the polenta into tin and smooth the surface.

5. Refrigerate polenta for 2 hours.

6. When the polenta is ready, it should be completely solid and have a spongy texture. Remove it from the tin and cut it into slices about 1/2 inch thick.

7. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. Brush an 8' x 8' baking dish with oil.

9. Place a layer of polenta slices on the bottom of the dish. On top of the polenta, add a layer of half the Havarti, half the blue cheese, half the mascarpone, and half the butter. Add another layer of polenta slices. Add the remaining Havarti, blue cheese, mascarpone, and butter.

10. Add a layer of polenta, and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top.

11. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the edges form a golden brown crust. Serve immediately.

I love cheese. I may have mentioned this before. This dish combines my two favorite cheeses: Havarti and blue cheese, so I knew this was going to be a winner as soon as I read the ingredient list. And as you see in the above picture, the cheese was so hot and gooey, it was wonderful!

Waiting the two hours while the polenta was chilling in the fridge worried me at first, because I thought we would be starving by the time it was finished chilling, but I'm lucky enough to have a wonderful boyfriend who went and bought all the ingredients we needed while I was at work so that we could start cooking as soon as I got home. For those who have a partner who also works late, or are single, I'd recommend making this on a weekend or making the polenta the night before and letting it chill overnight. But this cheesy goodness is definitely worth the wait, trust me.