Roast a mix of your favorite summer vegetables until they melt into a delicious saucy topping to spoon over savory polenta.
Cliff Notes:
Chop your favorite summer vegetables to equal four cups (strongly suggested you include tomatoes), mix with olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried basil. Bake (or air fry) at 400° for 20 minutes until soft and saucy. Cook polenta with chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper, mix in butter and Parmesan cheese. To serve, spoon roasted veggies over the polenta, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Make It Your Own:
– Use any combination of vegetables, as many or as few as you like (although I highly recommend including tomatoes for the sauciness).
– Instead of basil, season with thyme, rosemary, or oregano.
– Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to make it vegetarian.
– Add chicken or shrimp to make it a full meal
– Serve over rice, potatoes, cauliflower rice, or zoodles.
Simplify It:
– Buy pre-cut vegetables from the produce department.
Summer is all about the vegetables – fresh veggies are everywhere. While salad is often the go-to vehicle for enjoying the garden’s bounty, I can only eat so many salads. That’s when I start turning to new ways to bring them to the table.
While polenta is often thought of as a comfort food, when paired with this vegetable-forward topping, it simply screams summer.
Roasted Summer Veggies over Polenta
Ingredients
- FOR THE SUMMER VEGETABLE MEDLEY:
- 10 Cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 large Onion, chopped
- 4 cups of a variety of chopped Summer Vegetables, such as zucchini, yellow squash, corn, carrots, peppers, etc.
- 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 teaspoons Dried Basil
- ———————
- FOR THE POLENTA:
- 1 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
- 1/2 cup Polenta
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- ———————
- FOR SERVING:
- Olive Oil
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- FOR THE SUMMER VEGETABLE MEDLEY:
- Preheat oven or air fryer to 400°.
- Chop all the vegetables and place in a medium-sized bowl. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil and toss to coat thoroughly.
- Place in baking pan and roast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very soft and cooked through.
- ———————
- WHILE THE VEGETABLES ARE COOKING, MAKE THE POLENTA:
- In a small sauce pan, over medium-high heat, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium, add salt, and slowly pour in the polenta, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.
- Cook the polenta for 5 minutes, stirring with a silicone spatula often, until the liquid has been completely absorbed.
- Stir in the butter, black pepper, and Parmesan Cheese. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed.
- ———————
- TO SERVE:
- Serve the roasted vegetables over top of the polenta. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.