Comfort Food: Creamy Polenta with Eggplant Marinara

 I have been a polenta fan for a while now but this is the first time I actually tried cooking it. I always thought it was a little finicky since you have to get the right consistency to get the texture right. However, it was surprisingly easy to make! Since I was craving comfort food tonight, I made creamy polenta as the base and topped it off with some veggies cooked in marinara sauce. Recipe was inspired by this version.


Recipe for 3 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup dry polenta
3 cups water
1 Tbsp butter
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 cup low-fat Mozzarella cheese (can use parmesan for a richer taste)
1/2 large eggplant cubed
1.5 cups of marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe's brand)
1/2 Tbsp salt
1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1 Tbsp olive oil

Preparation:
1) In a large saucepan, pour the water and salt and bring to a boil
2) Add in the cornmeal while stirring to make sure no lumps are formed.
3) Add in the crushed garlic and let the polenta simmer on low heat for 20 minutes while stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture doesn't get lumpy.
4) Add in the butter and cheese and mix together until both are completely dissolved in the cooked polenta. Set aside polenta mixture to cool.
5) In a separate sauce pan, sauté the eggplants in olive oil until they are tender
6) Add the marinara sauce, pepper flakes, and a half-cup of water to the eggplants and let simmer for five minutes.
7) Spoon the polenta into a bowl and top it off the eggplant-marinara mixture and a little bit of cheese