First off this post is so late. I don't know where the last few days went!
Spencer and I started off the day at the Kearny Mesa farmers market. It was pretty small but we got a delicious fruit cup to snack on before lunch in Pacific Beach.
Spencer and I started off the day at the Kearny Mesa farmers market. It was pretty small but we got a delicious fruit cup to snack on before lunch in Pacific Beach.
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Cucumber, jicama, mango, and lots of watermelon!
After walking around and enjoying the very hot day we decided it was definitely pizza night- polenta pizza night! I have been wanting to try out polenta pizza for a while (I feel like I always say this) so after the usual stop at Trader Joe's we were ready to go with all of our topping supplies!
As you may be thinking, pizza is absolutely not vegan- so feel free to leave out the cheese (this is what I did) and add extra veggies instead. Also you can use a dairy-free cheese replacement like Daiya Food's Shredded Motzarella Style Cheese, which is actually quite tasty but not the healthiest thing in the world- but I guess "real" cheese isn't the healthiest either. It is something worth trying though, Daiya cheese melts like normal cheese and tastes like it too. We actually use this brand for quesadillas and bean and cheese burritos at the vegan restaurant I work at.
Also as a note this recipe is great for anyone trying to avoid gluten, because polenta is made from corn!
Individual Deep-Dish Polenta Pizza
Ingredients:
1 Tube Trader Joes cooked polenta
1 jar organic tomato sauce
1c sun dried tomatoes
2c sliced mushrooms
1c spinach
1 red bell pepper
1/2c Kalamata olives
Dried oregano
Dried or fresh basil (fresh is tastier if you have it)
1.5c Feta cheese (omit for vegan, or cheese replacement)
You will need 4-5 oven-safe ceramic ramekins to bake the pizzas in.
After walking around and enjoying the very hot day we decided it was definitely pizza night- polenta pizza night! I have been wanting to try out polenta pizza for a while (I feel like I always say this) so after the usual stop at Trader Joe's we were ready to go with all of our topping supplies!
As you may be thinking, pizza is absolutely not vegan- so feel free to leave out the cheese (this is what I did) and add extra veggies instead. Also you can use a dairy-free cheese replacement like Daiya Food's Shredded Motzarella Style Cheese, which is actually quite tasty but not the healthiest thing in the world- but I guess "real" cheese isn't the healthiest either. It is something worth trying though, Daiya cheese melts like normal cheese and tastes like it too. We actually use this brand for quesadillas and bean and cheese burritos at the vegan restaurant I work at.
Also as a note this recipe is great for anyone trying to avoid gluten, because polenta is made from corn!
Individual Deep-Dish Polenta Pizza
Ingredients:
1 Tube Trader Joes cooked polenta
1 jar organic tomato sauce
1c sun dried tomatoes
2c sliced mushrooms
1c spinach
1 red bell pepper
1/2c Kalamata olives
Dried oregano
Dried or fresh basil (fresh is tastier if you have it)
1.5c Feta cheese (omit for vegan, or cheese replacement)
You will need 4-5 oven-safe ceramic ramekins to bake the pizzas in.
Preheat your oven for 400 degrees. Wash and slice your toppings.
To make the polenta crust, you need to get a little messy. The cleanest way to do this would be to make homemade polenta from cornmeal and simply pour it into the bottom of the ramekins, but who has time for that (thank you Trader Joe's). So I decided to be lazy and/or difficult and use cooked polenta, mash it up and press it into the bottom of the ramekins to create a crust. It is a little tough to get it to stick at first but keep going and I promise you it will stay! I got a little frustrated trying to do this (you can ask Spencer) but be patient!
To make the polenta crust, you need to get a little messy. The cleanest way to do this would be to make homemade polenta from cornmeal and simply pour it into the bottom of the ramekins, but who has time for that (thank you Trader Joe's). So I decided to be lazy and/or difficult and use cooked polenta, mash it up and press it into the bottom of the ramekins to create a crust. It is a little tough to get it to stick at first but keep going and I promise you it will stay! I got a little frustrated trying to do this (you can ask Spencer) but be patient!
It should look something like this. The little one was mine (and I was still hungry).
Next is the fun part. Basically you pile everything on that your heart desires, starting with the sauce (duh) and ending with the dried herbs. I regret not adding pineapple!
Next is the fun part. Basically you pile everything on that your heart desires, starting with the sauce (duh) and ending with the dried herbs. I regret not adding pineapple!
Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the cheese starts to turn golden brown. As you can see we made enough for the whole fam and everyone (especially my grandpa) loved them! It's always fun having individual sized portions too, just make sure you give the pizzas a few minutes to cool because the ramekins are super super hot!
Ended the day with a beautiful sunset!
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