Friday, August 13, 2010

Breakfast Polenta with Chorizo and Queso Fresco



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...It was another busy day. The boys climbed Spencer Butte this morning and spent the afternoon picking berries for a pie and a flognard. Between adventures we stopped back home for this delicious pizza-like polenta that has a Southwestern flair. I made the polenta earlier in the day and spread it in a pan, so we could cut, rather than spoon it onto plates. The rest of the assembly is quite easy and the finished dish was scarfed down by our hungry boys. The recipe for this first appeared in Bon Appetit magazine and I like it well enough to keep it in my recipe rotation, usually serving it for brunch or a light supper. A few ingredient substitutions can be made. Coarse yellow cornmeal can be used in place of polenta and any spicy sausage can be used if you are unable to find chorizo. It's best, however, to use cherry tomatoes for the sauce. Other varieties can add too much liquid to the topping and take longer to cook as well. I know that those of you who try this will like it. Here's the recipe.

Breakfast Polenta with Chorizo and Queso Fresco...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Bon Appetit Magazine

Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese (about 6 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3-1/4 cups water
1 cup polenta (coarse yellow cornmeal) or regular cornmeal
1 1-pound bag frozen yellow corn kernels, thawed
1 pound fresh link chorizo sausage, casings removed
1 pound cherry tomatoes (about 3 1/2 cups)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss cheese and cilantro in small bowl. Mix 3-1/4 cups water, polenta, and corn kernels in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and stir to blend well. Bake until water is absorbed and polenta is tender, stirring once, about 25 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, break chorizo into small pieces and saute in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned, about 6 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes to skillet. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until tomatoes soften, about 6 minutes. Uncover; crush some tomatoes with fork. Simmer until tomatoes release juices and sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Spoon or cut polenta into squares and put on individual serving plates. Top each with a portion of chorizo mixture, then cheese mixture. Yield: 4 servings

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Mamaliga Baked with Cheese - One Perfect Bite
Oven Baked Polenta - One Perfect Bite
Spoon Bread with Leeks and Gruyere Cheese
P Is for Polenta - The Duo Dishes
Crispy Polenta with Fresh Corn and Aged Cheddar Cheese - Whisk: A Food Blog
Polenta with Mushroom Duxelles - Vino Luci
Creamy Polenta with Sausage - The Diner's Journal
Polenta Lasagna with Mushrooms Bechamel - Retro Food
Bacon Sage Polenta - The Blue Kitchen

47 comments :

Diane said...

I love Chorizo so this will go down well with me. Diane

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

I LOVE savory breakfast dishes - there is something about polenta with sauce and cheese!

D said...

Hello Mary, We love polenta and spicy sausage and this will get printed out so we can have a go at it.

How wonderful to have your family with you. We are thinking of a trip sometime this fall to visit some of ours... miss them much. By the way, I have leeks that I'm about to dig, likely more than we can use. I can only make and freeze so much leek potato soup. I am willing to share; if you would like some send me an em. ;)

Kath said...

That looks sooo good! My sweetie thinks he doesn't like polenta, but maybe he would change his mind if it were served with chorizo!

Deana Sidney said...

I did have to look up flognard.. looks wonderful as does this combination you devised with chorizo... that I love!

Baking is my Zen...sweet nibbles for the soul said...

I look forward to trying this!

Carmen

PeggyR said...

That sounds good as well. Thank you for hanging in there with me during Norm's stroke.

chriesi said...

Oh this sounds very good! Have a nice weekend!

Allie and Pattie said...

And here I thought nobody else ate polenta for breakfast! Lovely recipe Mary- I love this twist
xoxo Pattie

Susi's Kochen und Backen said...

Savory breakfast dishes are loved very much in our home and this sounds exceptionally delicious. Love the chorizo/queso fresco combination! Sounds like a winner to me :o)

Tina said...

Mary, I think everyone should keep some ploenta in the pantry. I like the tubed variety too, for frying up. Love the taste and this looks so delicious.

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Mary, polenta is perfect for breakfast and it is one of our favorites. I love your idea of topping it with chorizo and cheese.
Sam

Gloria Baker said...

Mary I love polenta too in all types! (savoy and sweet) and thos look really nice, have a lovely weekend and dont work so much! x gloria

RamblingTart said...

What a perfectly splendid way to use polenta, Mary! :-) I'm inspired. :-)

Ginny Hartzler said...

This looks really inventive and yummy. Though I must admit that I don't know what Queso Freso is! But boy I wish I could taste that through the computer screen!

Schnitzel and the Trout said...

Sounds very tasty. Some day...when you have extra time...ha ha, I would like to have you explain your recipe rotation. What kind of a system do you have to keep redoing recipes and not letting them get lost. Just curious. I know you are very organized and this would possibly benefit a lot of us. Thanks. Susan

Unknown said...

Looks great & now I can't wait to see what pie you make!

Rita said...

What a fantastic breakfast!This would be such a treat!
Rita

The Blonde Duck said...

It sounds delicious!

tasteofbeirut said...

Polenta for breakfast sounds wonderful! Yummmy! I love the southwestern flavor of that breakfast too

Eileen said...

That really sounds good.

Annie said...

Thank you Mary for another delicious recipe, I like it very much.
Have a nice weekend.

Unknown said...

new dish to me....bookmarked it...have a grt weekend...

Lori said...

I would love to have this for breakfast! I love polenta and dont make it nearly enough. Hope you are enjoying all of your family this summer Mary.

Evan @swEEts said...

My boyfriend actually just got done saying he wanted to get some chorizo when we went to the grocery tonight.. I can't wait to try this!!

Julie said...

I never make polenta! I need to add this to the folder of "One Perfect Bite" recipes. I am envious of the fresh berries. When I lived in KC we always picked berries this time of year. I've never heard of the flognard. It looks beautiful and delicious.

Bakericious said...

looks good!

Jennifer said...

Wow, that is amazing, you are so creative and diverse in your cooking! I hope to be someday!

Adelina said...

polenta would remind me of home....such an original way of using it!

Unknown said...

Can I please come for breakfast or whenever you serve this? It looks so incredibly good. Chorizo brings such wonderful flavor to any dish! Thanks for sharing...glad you are enjoying your family!!

scrambledhenfruit said...

Almost like having pizza for breakfast! I love pizza for breakfast. :)

Monet said...

What a wonderful breakfast/dinner meal. I love the southwestern flair with the chorizo and queso fresco. I can imagine that this was a hit at the table. Thank you for sharing!

The Duo Dishes said...

We looooove polenta! It's such a great alternative to grits, which are another one of our favorite cornmeal eats. You can do so much with both of them. They never get old.

Joanne said...

Pizza-like polenta....I like. I like a LOT.

cocoa and coconut said...

I love polenta, even though its a bit of a pain to make. Beautiful concept...spanish/italian style breakfast pizza/omlette ;)

Chele said...

Great looking breakfast Mary

Mags @ the Other Side of 50 said...

Mary, you always have the best recipes. This one's another winner!

Patti said...

Would you believe that until this past week I had never eaten polenta in my life?!!

My daughter, who just turned 20, is hopeful of going to culinary school. She loves to try new recipes, and this week she tried a rosemary polenta dish. It was fabulous. I have determined that I love polenta.

Thank you for sharing this recipe.

Blessings,
Patti

Miss Meat and Potatoes said...

Good Lord you have outdone yourself with this one Mary. Yes please!

Foodiewife said...

I love polenta. This is a beautiful and very clever breakfast dish. I hope to make this part of my recipe rotation. Lovely.

Regina said...

Looks yummy.
Happy Pink Saturday Mary.

♥ Regina

Unknown said...

That looks fantastic Mary. I won't have any trouble waking up in the morning if I knew I'm gonna have this for breakfast. YUM...
Enjoy your weekend. Michael

Katie@Cozydelicious said...

This looks amazing! I love the idea of a spicy, hearty breakfast. But this would also be so great for dinner. Yum!

Lucie said...

Looks delicious, Mary. I imagine the taste must be pretty different depending on whether you use feta or queso fresco--a recipe you can adapt as much as you want, perfect!

Claudia said...

I could have that for any meal of the day. Love using polenta as a base for toppings.

Valérie said...

This looks great! Although my morning appetite isn't huge these days, for some reason (at other times, I wake up ravenous), so this would probably be lunch or dinner for me - but I would still relish every bite!

Anonymous said...

What a beauitful looking dish. This looks so yummy! I love the vibrant colours.

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