Sweet Corn Polenta with Eggplant Sauce
Author: 
Recipe type: Vegetarian
 
Ingredients
  • EGGPLANT SAUCE
  • ⅔ cups vegetable oil
  • 1 medium eggplant, cut into ¾-inch dice
  • 2 teaspoons tomato paste
  • 1 large shallot, finely chopped (optional)
  • ¼ cup dry white wine
  • 1½ cups chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned, peeled or not. (we didn't peel them but we did seed them-your choice)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon chopped Rosemary, oregano, basil, or any other sort of fresh herb you like.
  • POLENTA
  • 6 ears of corn
  • ¼ cup water
  • 3 tablespoons butter, diced
  • 7-8 ounces feta, crumbled
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Black pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. EGGPLANT SAUCE
  2. Heat up the oil in a large saucepan and fry the eggplant on medium-high heat for about 15 minutes, or until nicely brown. (You could do this in two batches if necessary) Drain off as much oil as you can and discard it -- the safest way to do this is to scoop out the eggplant to a plate using a slotted spoon, then pour off the oil into a bowl before adding the eggplant back in. Add the tomato paste and shallot if using to the pan and cook until the tomato paste browns a bit. and stir in the wine. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the eggplant, chopped tomatoes, salt, sugar and rosemary and cook for another 5 minutes to get a deep-flavored sauce, adding a little water if needed if it gets too thick. Set aside; warm it up when needed.
  3. POLENTA
  4. Remove the leaves and "silk" from each ear of corn. Using a sharp knife or a mandolin, cut the kernels off the cobs. Scrape the cobs to get the pulp. You want to have about 1¼ pounds kernels. Place the kernels in a medium saucepan and add the water. Cook for about 12 minutes on a low simmer. Use a slotted spoon to lift the kernels from the water and into a food processor; reserve any cooking liquid. Process them for quite a few minutes, to break as much of the kernel case as possible.
  5. Add some of the cooking liquid if the mixture becomes too dry to process. Now return the corn paste to the pan with the cooking liquid and cook, while stirring, on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to mashed potato consistency. (Be aware that if you have a lot of liquid left in the pan, it can take a while to cook down the polenta, and it will sputter. Consider holding back some or all of the liquid. Alternately, if you like the consistency after processing, you can skip the second cooking.) Fold in the butter, the feta, salt and some pepper and optionally cook for a further 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Recipe by Messin' With Perfection at https://www.messinwithperfection.com/sweet-corn-polenta-with-eggplant-sauce/