Make your own “chips” and gluten-free pizza with polenta

Thanks to the polenta, you can make two delicious recipes that will remind you of the traditional versions but these are tastier and healthier. Try them!

French fries and gluten-free polenta pizza are an interesting alternative to traditional chips and conventional pizzas. We show you two vegan and gluten-free recipes that do not require many ingredients.

Polenta is a firm pulp made of corn grits. If you cook it well, you can cut it into strips, bake it or sauté it to make fried polenta.

POLENTA CHIPS

Like conventional potato chips, these are suitable as a side dish for salads, tofu, and other meat alternatives. They can be served with a sauce as part of the main course or as a snack.

You can also use the recipe to take advantage of polenta from the previous day. Just make sure the dough is firm enough to cut.

POLENTA POTATO CHIPS RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 125 g corn semolina
• 150 ml unsweetened soy milk
• 150 ml water
• 1 teaspoon vegetable broth powder
• 0.5 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 pinch pepper
• Olive oil

Elaboration

1. Put the vegetable drink, water, vegetable broth powder, salt, rosemary, paprika powder and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Remove the pot from the heat and let the grits drip slowly while stirring vigorously. Keep stirring the mixture until it starts to curdle.
3. Transfer the polenta to a cutting board or baking sheet. Spread evenly. Then let it cool in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
4. Cut the polenta into strips. Make sure they are not too long, otherwise they can easily break.
5. Grease a baking sheet with a little olive oil and spread the cut polents over it. Spread them with a little oil helping you with a kitchen brush.
6. Place the “potato de polenta” in the oven at 200 °C top/bottom for 30 to 40 minutes. Bake until golden brown.
7. Let them cool a little and serve them as a main course or garnish.

POLENTA CHIPS: VARIATIONS

By enriching the polenta with additional ingredients or by serving different sides, you can vary the recipe and give it a different flavor:

• Instead of rosemary, for example, you can use other aromatic ones (such as parsley, oregano or thyme).
• You can also customize the spices. For example, chili, garlic or curry powder are also suitable.
• You can serve the fried polenta with different dressings and sauces. In addition to homemade tomato sauce and mayonnaise, hummus, aioli, guacamole, eggplant cream, sour cream or yogurt sauce are also suitable.
• Instead of potato chips in the oven, you can also prepare them in the pan. To do this, heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the potatoes until crispy on both sides.

POLENTA PIZZA

For a baking sheet or a large, round polenta pizza, you’ll need the following ingredients for the base:

• 650 ml vegetable broth
• 250 g corn semolina
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons oregano
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Spread the polenta pizza base with tomato sauce like a regular pizza. You need the following ingredients:

Ingredients for the sauce:

• 1 small onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 200 ml crushed tomato
• 1 teaspoon rosemary, basil and oregano
• Salt and pepper

You also need a dressing. You can cover the polenta pizza with the vegetables that you like the most, for our recipe you will need the following:

Ingredients to cover the pizza:

• 1 zucchini
• 1 eggplant
• 150 g fresh mushrooms
• 50 g pitted black olives
• Goat or vegan cheese

Elaboration:

1. Bring the vegetable broth to a boil and add the grits while stirring.
2. Let the mixture simmer for about ten minutes, stirring constantly, then remove it from the heat.
3. Add the salt, oregano and olive oil, then spread the polenta on a greased baking sheet or covered with baking paper. The base of the polenta pizza should rest there for at least ten minutes.
4. During the resting time you can prepare the pizza sauce; To do this, briefly sauté the finely chopped onion and garlic in a small saucepan with a little oil and then add the tomatoes, aromatics and spices. Crush all the ingredients to make a sauce and let cool a little.
5. In the meantime, you can prepare the toppings for the pizza topping. Cut the zucchini, eggplant and mushrooms into slices and cut the olives into rings.
6. Then, spread the base of the polenta pizza with the tomato sauce and spread the coating evenly over the pizza.
7. Finally, spread the cheese or vegan cheese substitute over the polenta pizza.
8. Bake the pizza at about 190 ºC for 20 minutes. Tip: No need to preheat the oven to save energy. Then the time in the oven is extended from five to ten minutes.
9. Once the polenta pizza is golden brown, take it out of the oven and let it cool before tasting it.

Check here other ways to prepare a vegan and healthy pizza to suit you.