Parsley polenta with balsamic tomatoes

One of the bad things about living in São Paulo is the huge traffic jams I have to face every single day; it takes me forever to get to work and then to get back home. So exhausting.

I don’t know what happened in one of these days but the streets were so free that I arrived home in less then 40 minutes! A miracle! That deserved a celebration – a delicious dinner that I put together in 20 minutes.



This recipe was really good so I’m submitting it to the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Zorra, from the blog Kochtopf.

Parsley polenta with balsamic tomatoes
adapted from Off The Shelf: Cooking From the Pantry

4 ripe tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons basil leaves

Polenta:
2 cups (480ml) hot water
2 cups (480ml) milk
1 cup quick cook polenta*
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
60g (2 oz) butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF. Place the tomatoes, cut side down, in an ovenproof ceramic dish. Combine the oil, balsamic, sugar and basil and pour over the tomatoes. Bake for 20 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft.
Make the polenta while the tomatoes are roasting. Place the water and milk in a saucepan over medium to high heat and bring to a boil. Slowly whisk in the polenta. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the polenta, stirring, for 3-5 minutes. Stir through the parmesan, parsley, butter, pepper and salt.
To serve, spoon the polenta onto serving plates. Top with the tomatoes and the pan juices. Finish with extra parmesan and serve.

* I made the polenta little bit thicker because that’s how João likes it.

Serves 4