Cornmeal Crunch

Cornmeal Crunch

I read a recent article that the American diet is Niacin deficient due to omitting whole grains in the diet. This recipe came from 101 Cookbooks which sends to my email weekly. Cornmeal is a winter comfort food of mine. Polenta which is a coarse ground cornmeal is common on restaurant menus in Europe and is served in place of potatoes.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cornmeal

fine grain sea salt

4 cups yellow onion, chopped (about 3 medium)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

3 cups water or vegetable broth

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Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. degrees with rack in the middle. Butter and flour one 9" square baking dish.

In a medium bowl combine the corn meal with 1 1/2 cups water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir and set aside.

To caramelize the onions, heat a splash of olive oil in a large thick bottomed skillet with a pinch or two of salt. Cook over high heat, stirring and scraping the pan occasionally-more often as the onions begin to get increasingly brown. Continue cooking until the onions collapse and turn deep brown in color. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Bring 1 1/2 cups water (or broth) to a boil in a medium saucepan, add the water and cornmeal mixture, bring back to a boil and stir until it is thicker than a heavy frosting-about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese and 2/3 of the onions. Spoon the mixture into a prepared pan, spreading it to an even thickness, and drizzle with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the bottom is golden and the cornmeal begins to pull away from the side of the pan a bit. Serve topped with the remaining onions (and more grated cheese if you like)

Makes 16 pieces

You can easily make this vegan by omitting the cheese.