POLENTA-RATATOUILLE PIE

This recipe is a variation on the Polenta Pie With Spinach I posted here 22 February - posted again for your entertainment and convenience. I had left-over ratatouille from a couple of days ago and thought what to do with it. Because I like things spicy most of the time and also because it would make it different from what we’d recently eaten, I jazzed it up a bit.

POLENTA-RATATOUILLE PIE
(Using Left-Overs)

The filling (I had that - the left-over ratatouille - maybe a couple of cups, give or take - I didn't measure) with extra zing of
Crushed chiles (about a tsp)
1 cup polenta/medium corn meal
3 cups water - or vegetable stock if you prefer
1tsp dried parsley
1 tsp crushed/pulverized garlic
1 - 2 cups Pasta sauce (I had some home made, but you could use your favourite)
A little (just light sprinkles) Vegan parmezan cheez (I used homemade version) - optional

Add the crushed chiles to the left-over ratatouille and keep it warm in a pan while you make the polenta, which is only slightly changed from the previous recipe. The major difference was in halving the recipe since I thought I’d made it a bit heavy the first time.

Bring 3 cups of water (you could use veggie stock and skip the salt) and a pinch of salt to a boil over high heat in a LARGE pot. Slowly add the 1 cup of cornmeal, whisking it in so that it doesn’t go into lumps - or use a wooden spoon, stirring all the while. Add a tsp of dried parsley flakes and a tsp of pulverized garlic and stir well.

Reduce heat to a bare simmer. Cover the pan and cook, stirring now and then, around 15 minutes or until the polenta is cooked.

Remove from the heat but leave it covered for about 5 minutes, during which time preheat your oven to 375 F.

TO ASSEMBLE:
Immediately spoon half of the polenta into a lightly oiled/sprayed pie plate. You will need to use the back of a large spoon to press it down and smooth it out nicely. Spoon the warmed ratatouille filling over the polenta base - to within 1/2 inch of the outside rim of the polenta.

Put the remaining polenta on top, carefully spreading it (I used a knife dipped in cold water again and again) and smooth the surface with the back of your big spoon.

Sprinkle the top with a little vegan parmezan cheeze (or your homemade faux cheez substitute), but this is optional.

Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 mins or until the top begins to brown a little. Remove from oven and let it settle for another 15 minutes.

Cut into wedges, garnish and accompany with pasta sauce if you are using it.

This was too good to call leftovers! Yummmm!!!! (As you can see, we managed, between us, to make great inroads into it.) Serve with a nice salad of your choice.

I was more pleased with this than with the Polenta Pie With Spinach because it wasn't so heavy on the polenta and also because I just love doing something useful with leftovers :) It WAS hard to photograph, though!