New Year's Eve Polenta Squares with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
Submitted by happyzhangbo
New Year’s Eve polenta squares crisp tube polenta under the broiler, then top each bite with a tangy sun-dried tomato, caper, and parsley pesto. A make-ahead cocktail-party appetizer that feeds a crowd.
YIELD
48 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
15 minREADY
28 minNew Year’s Eve polenta squares with sun-dried tomato pesto are the party bites that look fancy and take zero skill. A tube of precooked polenta (the shrink-wrapped kind from the Italian aisle) gets sliced, broiled on a sheet pan until the surfaces turn crackly-golden, then cut into neat little squares while still warm. Each square gets a tiny spoonful of punchy pesto: oil-packed or rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes pulsed with capers, garlic, flat-leaf parsley, olive oil, and a crack of black pepper.
The pesto is where the flavor lives. Salty capers push against sweet-tart sun-dried tomatoes; garlic and parsley keep it bright and savory; and the whole thing lands somewhere between a spread and a chunky relish. Forty-eight bites from one polenta tube means you’re set for a crowd with almost no active work.
Best of all, they hold well at room temperature, so you can set a platter out at the start of the evening and let guests graze.
Pro Tips
- Use a sturdy tube polenta, plain not flavored. Softer brands collapse under the broiler. Pat the slices dry with paper towels before broiling for crispier edges.
- Watch the broiler closely. The jump from golden to burnt happens in under a minute with radiant heat this strong.
- Make the pesto a day ahead and let it rest in the fridge. The flavors deepen and the oil picks up the tomato’s sweetness.
Variations
- Swap sun-dried tomato pesto for classic basil pesto, tapenade, or a dollop of whipped goat cheese.
- Garnish each square with a small basil leaf, a curl of parmesan, or a half olive for visual pop.
- Cut the polenta with a small round cookie cutter for a more elegant shape than squares.
Ingredients
if too dry, soak into boiling water for 10 minutes, chopped; or oil-packed, drain well
Directions
Preheat broiler.
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Arrange polenta slices on the prepared baking sheet.
Broil in upper third of oven until starting to brown, 9 to 12 minutes.
Turn over and broil the other side until lightly browned, about 4 minutes more.
At the same time, add sun-dried tomatoes, oil, parsley, capers, garlic and pepper in a food processor, pulse to combine, scraping down the sides as needed, until coarsely chopped.
Transfer the polenta slices to a clean cutting board or working surface and cut each into squares.
Make 48 squares.
Spoon about ¼ teaspoon of the sundried tomato pesto on top of each polenta.
Serve warm or chilled.
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