Baked Polenta With Ricotta Cheese

Photo: Lady Catherine Gourmet

Ingredients

32 ounces sack of corn meal

32 ounces ricotta cheese

1 Zest of lemon

4 dashs Dashes of cinnamon – not too much, about

Dashes of sea salt

Dashes of fresh ground black pepper

1 cup of grated Romano cheese

1/2 pound of salami

1/4 pound sliced provolone

1 cup of marinated peppers- chopped

2 bunchs of fresh parsley – chopped without stems

1 head of fresh garlic – chopped

Preparation

Preheat Oven 350 degrees:

Drizzle olive oil over a baking pan and set aside as you prepare the cornmeal, as directed. For a richer tasting polenta, use chicken broth or bouillon seasoning in the water. Make enough polenta to line the bottom of the baking dish and to top the ricotta layer.

Heat a large frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the parsley, garlic and marinated peppers. Sauté until the garlic is fragrant and the parsley slightly wilted.

In a large bowl combine the ricotta cheese, cinnamon, lemon zest, sea salt, pepper, grated Romano cheese and add the sautéed parsley, garlic and peppers. Mix this together well.

Top the first layer of polenta with the salami slices and the provolone slices. Top the salami and provolone with the ricotta mixture and then top the ricotta with another layer of polenta.

Grate more Romano cheese on top of the polenta a dash of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper and bake for about 25 minutes.