Goat cheese polenta with spinach and roasted tomatoes

Yum!  I saw this polenta recipe from Pinch of Yum a while ago and knew I was going to need to try to make it at some point.  Well, we made it last week for dinner and it was delicious!  The polenta was creamy and pungent while the roasted tomatoes gave a depth of flavor and the spinach added freshness.  A perfect Spring meal, and it was pretty easy as well.

The recipe makes 4 servings, but I could see it being 2 -3 servings if you're hungry since it was so delicious.  You may want to serve it with a salad just in case. Here is my version of the dish.

Ingredients

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 3 cups spinach
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup polenta
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• salt to taste

I did this first step over the weekend, making it then an easy weeknight dinner to throw together. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and place the tomatoes on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 10 minutes, gently turn the tomatoes, and repeat 2 more times for a total of 30 minutes.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large pot. Once the oil is hot, add the spinach, red chili flakes, garlic powder and salt to taste. The spinach will begin to wilt and reduce quickly so you won't need to sautee it long.  Just keep stirring it for a minute or two until it's the consistency you want it.  I wanted it to be wilted but not cooked to death so that it could still give some freshness to the dish. I then removed it from the pot and set it aside on a plate.

In the same pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the polenta slowly and whisk at the same time  to help avoid clumps. Simmer for 15 minutes or so until the polenta has thickened. Add the goat cheese and stir until smooth. Taste at this point to see if any extra salt is needed.  Some goat cheese can be quite salty so I didn't want to add salt to the polenta until now to see how much it needed.

And voila!  Serve the cheesy polenta in a bowl and top with some of the spinach and roasted tomatoes.  It was as beautiful as it was delicious!

I'm excited to be linking up with Deborah and Sarah for meatless Mondays. This is a great link up to find delicious vegetarian recipes.