Deep dish polenta casserole

I have a limited rotation of breakfasts that I make for Kyle, usually strata or coffee cake (with days of cereal in between if I can’t get my act together in time).  It’s because those are the easiest things to make and then last a while which streamlines mornings for us all.

But then this idea came to me when we had all the ingredients for a strata but no bread.  Polenta!  And to make it last a while, why not make it in a big baking dish?  YES.  YES YES YES.  And it was so super simple to make.

Let’s talk ingredients.

You guys know my favorite hummus ever is SABRA, so don’t act surprised that this features the roasted pine nut flavor.  It’s Kyle’s second favorite so I get it just for him.  His number one is the basil pesto for the record.  I am a classic and roasted red pepper girl (nothing new, why mess with perfection?).

So yeah.  Kyle’s lunches have Sabra hummus like every day.  Which you’d think would mean he would be sick of having it for breakfast too, butttttt…he’s married to me for a reason…hummus lovers for life. [We just have to be secretive about it due to Pacman’s sesame allergy]

Total contraband right there.  We legit eat hummus in hiding like nervous teenagers trying to hide $*# from our parents.  Anyway, I am getting off topic.

Back to the deep dish polenta casserole.

It looks weird going in to the oven but you just have to have faith.  It will work out, I promise.

See?  Told ya.

This was a big hit and managed to last Kyle almost two weeks!  That’s completely unheard of for his breakfasts.  Btw, this would make a nice vegetarian dinner too.  Ready for the recipe?  Great!

Deep Dish Polenta Casserole [vegetarian, gluten free, soy free, dairy free*]

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dry corn grits/polenta
• 3 1/2 cups boiling liquid (I used water, but milk or a combo would work)
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tub Sabra roasted pine nut hummus
• 1 cup shredded cheese (use dairy free – i.e. Daiya – if needed)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a large baking dish** (7×11 is the size I used and it was perfect) with olive oil.  Toss tomatoes and onions in the oil, then add the polenta and hummus, followed by the boiling water.  It’s essentially like a dump cake in that you don’t need to mix it much.  It’s a very low fuss recipe.  Feel free to stir the hummus a bit to break it up and disperse it, but you really don’t have to.  Then place it in the oven (still without cheese).

Once it has baked for ~20 minutes, take it out of the oven and add the cheese on top.  Most of the liquid should have absorbed at this point.  Then place it back in the oven and let it bake until it is mostly set (another ~5 minutes).  It can still be a little jiggly, but definitely shouldn’t have visible liquid.  Let it cool a bit before serving.

The longer this cools the more it will “set”.  Serving it right away will make it an eat-with-a-spoon kind of meal.  But if you make it in advance and store it in the fridge, by the next day it will be a more firm (like polenta) casserole.

*I used a three cheese mix for this one, but any combo of cheddar, mozzarella, or parmesan would work.  For a dairy free/vegan version, use an appropriate substitution, such as Daiya.

**The size dish you use does matter here because a thinner polenta (with more surface area exposed to the air) will bake faster.  If you use a larger or smaller one than mine, expect shorter or longer baking times (respectively).

Below is what it looked like before I added cheese.

Then cheese.

And voila.

All that herb-y roasted pizza flavor in a beautiful savory bite.