Holidays are just around the corner and beautiful appetizers are about to pop up everywhere. We wanted to share a tasty easy to make appetizer option for you that you can dress up or down depending on your needs. These tasty polenta treats keep well for several days refrigerated, and will always be loved by your guests.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of polenta
- 6 cups of water
- sea salt to taste
- 1/4 bunch of fresh chives
- 4 – 6 cracked cardamom seeds, ground up in a pestle
- 1 – 2 fresh finely chopped Thai chilis (your option for spice)
Bring the polenta, water and salt to a boil in a medium non-stick high rimmed pan, stir several times to mix it up well. While it’s still boiling, cover with lid and reduce heat to the lowest setting possible. Be sure to check back every 10 mins and stir. It will take about 30 mins to cook. Taste it to make sure that the polenta is not hard. Check for consistency, as you want it to be pasty but not too hard, you should be able to spread it nicely with a spatula.
Once the consistency is right, add fresh chives, cracked cardamom, the spice with your Thai chilis really comes down to your taste.
You’ll need two cookie sheets. Cookie sheet #1: – place parchment or wax paper on the cookie sheet, then spread the polenta mixture over it, evenly, cover with another sheet of parchment/wax paper and place second cookie sheet on top press down hard but even and place in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Once chilled, remove paper carefully, cut off the outside edges with a sharp knife, and cut into your favorite size squares. We served ours with a delicious spicy Fage Greek Yogurt dip. You could top this with your favorite salsa, sauteed onions with peppers, or make your best dip. Either way it will be perfect for your guests.
Best! NK
Nutty Kitchen 
One response to “Polenta Squares”
I am so glad you are celebrating the virtues of polenta. It is super inexpensive, very versatile and underutilized these days. I have an article about how to make polenta using ratios, so you can make soft or firm polenta anytime you’d like: http://www.ryankparker.com/polenta if you are interested.
Great post, thanks for sharing with us!
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