Polenta with Chipotles and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients:

3 cups water
1 tsp. salt
1 cup polenta or cornmeal
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 sun-dried tomatoes
1 dried chipotle chile pepper

Instructions:

Bring the water and salt to a boil over medium-high heat in a heavy saucepan. Pour the polenta in slowly, in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Add the garlic and cook the polenta, continuing to stir constantly, until it starts pulling away from the sides of the pan.

Meanwhile, reconstitute the tomatoes and chipotles by pouring boiling water over both and letting them sit while the polenta cooks. After the polenta is fully cooked, drain it. Mince the softened tomatoes and chipotles and add to the mixture.

Sprinkle drops of cold water over a marble pastry board or cookie sheet. With a firm spatula, spread the cooked polenta onto the board into a rectangle about 1/4″ thick. Let it cool and cut into shapes with the cookie cutters.

Place the shapes on a cookie sheet sprayed with vegetable cooking spray and broil 4″ from the heat source for 5 minutes and serve immediately.

Recipe by Nanette Blanchard.