By Genevieve
I've been trying to make the most of the local corn season this month, eating corn at every opportunity. I always love eating it right off the cob with some salt and pepper, but I also like to change things up sometimes, whether its eating the kernels hot off the cob, or adding them raw to a salad.
This corn "polenta" is a new method of eating corn that I just discovered last summer. Usually when you hear of corn polenta, it refers to cornmeal polenta with some corn kernels mixed in. This recipe, however, is actually polenta made purely of corn.
It turns out that if you cook corn kernels, blend them up, and then keep cooking the mixture on the stovetop, it eventually turns into a thick, porridge-like mixture just like polenta.
To round out the dish, I wanted to make some kind of tomato topping. Since I also had some local peaches on hand from the market, I thought that peach and tomato would make a good combination as a fresh salsa to mix into the polenta.
A handful of fresh basil and some balsamic vinegar added even more flavour, making this such a fresh and summery meal! The corn flavour really comes through in the polenta, and I liked that it was a bit lighter than regular polenta, which tends to be made with milk, butter, and cheese.
This was a bit on the sweet side overall, especially if you use a sweet corn, but I love sweet and fruity meals in the summer so it wasn't a problem for me! Feel free to add a sprinkle of cheese if you want a savory dimesion - I think goat cheese or feta would work well.
Hope you all enjoy the last long weekend of the summer! I'm sure mine will involve more corn :)
Sweet Corn “Polenta” with Peach and Tomato Salsa
Inspired by Five and Spice
Ingredients:
- 2 ears sweet corn
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup diced peach
- ~2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Instructions:
Remove the husks from the corn and slice off the kernels into a large bowl using a knife. Run the dull edge of the knife down the sides of the corn afterwards to get all of the corn “milk” off of the cob. Place kernels and liquid in a medium sized saucepan and cover with ¾ cup water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then continue to simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the corn kernels with a slotted spoon and transfer to a blender (do not discard the cooking liquid). Puree until smooth, then return to the pot. Cook on medium-low for another 10-15 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture is thickened and starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and stir in olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, prepare the topping by stirring together the diced tomato, peaches, basil, and balsamic vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Transfer corn puree to a bowl and top with the salsa.
Serve warm.
Makes 1 serving.
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