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.

Vegetable and Cheese Pie

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

7 Tbsp butter

5 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/3 large red onion, chopped

1/4 large red bell pepper

1/4 large orange bell pepper

1/4 large yellow bell pepper

1 egg, beaten

handful of breadcrumbs

2-3 tomatoes, sliced

5-6 mushrooms, sliced

3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 Tbsp olive oil

6 large fresh basil leaves, chopped

salt

pepper

Directions:

1. Blend the flour and butter in a food processor until it is an even, crumbly consistency. (Butter should be cold, straight out of the refrigerator.)

2. Add the Parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp salt, and 3 Tbsp water and blend. Add an additional 3 Tbsp water and blend again. Continue adding water until the dough comes together nicely. (I added 2 more Tbsp of water)

3. Remove dough from processor and roll it into a ball on top of a flour-covered surface. Place the ball in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.

4. While the dough chills, prepare the pie filling: Combine garlic, onion, and bell peppers in a non-stick pan and cook over a medium heat. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes, or until it looks delicious. Remove from heat.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out onto a slightly floured surface. Dough should be circular, with a 14 inch diameter.

6. Move dough to a baking tray sprayed with non-stick spray by wrapping the dough loosely around rolling pin, placing it on the tray, and carefully unrolling it onto the tray.

7. Brush 3/4 of the egg onto the dough and sprinkle with a handful of breadcrumbs.

8. Arrange the tomato slices in an overlapping circle. Leave a wide border of the dough so it can be folded over later.

9. Add the garlic/bell peppers/onion mixture on top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle mushrooms, mozzarella and blue cheeses on top of the mixture. Fold the edges of the pie crust over the top, leaving the middle exposed.

10. Brush the remaining egg yolk on the crust and place in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the crust has turned golden brown.

11. Remove from oven, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with black pepper, salt, and chopped fresh basil.

I just finished eating this masterpiece, and it was delicious. It was sort of like a pizza without sauce. Speaking of which, a nice addition to this recipe may be to have a side of tomato sauce to use as a dip for slices of this pie. Maybe I'll try that next time.