Fried Polenta Rounds with Roasted Red Pepper & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Even though Polenta is Italian, it always makes me think of the South, which is where I was first introduced to it.  I started with shrimp and grits and then moved on to fried polenta.  Polenta is ground cornmeal, which can be made either into an "Italian grits" creamy consistency or allowed to settle and congeal.  You can then fry it up and top it with all sorts of goodness.  You can even have both.  Make it creamy one night and then use the leftovers to congeal so you can cut it up and fry into this delicious appetizer.  The recipe for that will be an entirely different post.  Until then, just use the precooked tube of polenta found in most speciality shops or in your local grocery store.  Either way, it tastes delicious and melds great with the red pepper and sun-dried tomatoes.

Fried Polenta Rounds with Roasted Red Pepper & Sun-dried Tomatoes

polenta, precooked in 18 ounce tube

1 jar, 8-10 oz roasted red pepper, drained

1 jar, 6-8 oz sun dried tomato packed in olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic

1-2 Tablespoon olive oil

dash of salt and pepper to taste

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

fresh thyme, cleaned and pulled from stem

After removing plastic, cut tube of polenta into slices 1/4 inch thick.  In non-stick frying pan, pour 1 Tablespoon olive oil and allow to heat.  Fry polenta slices in pan over medium heat on both sides until a golden crisp appears.  Remove from pan and place on serving platter.  Continue frying the rest of the polenta rounds adding extra oil as needed.  You don't want them to stick to the pan as they can tear easily.  

In food processor, put drained roasted red peppers, drained sun dried tomatoes, garlic (to taste), and dash of fresh ground salt & pepper.  Pulse until pureed, but still somewhat chunky.  Taste and add more salt, pepper, or garlic if desired.  

Spoon about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of red pepper mixture onto polenta rounds.  Take a vegetable peeler and peel a few shreds of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and place on top of the red pepper mixture.  Take cleaned thyme leaves and sprinkle on top of the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Serves 6