One-Pot Wonders

Baked polenta with roasted tomatoes, eggs & ricotta

by:
December  1, 2009
4
3 Ratings
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

I had this at 5 Points in NYC for brunch many years ago and it has remained one of my favorite breakfasts to date...especially good when cobbled together from leftovers, you can cheat and use the tube polenta and canned tomatoes if you don't happen to have leftover polenta or roasted tomatoes laying about. If you plan ahead, ( and have a gas oven) you can place halved plum tomatoes sprinlked with olive oil salt & pepper (maybe some orange zest & rosemary) in the oven the night before. Using best quality fresh ricotta and wonderful farm fresh eggs will elevate this , but it's pretty darn good with regular old ingredients as well...you can add to this if you wish: A few slices of proscuitto can be added, left over roasted zucchini or spinach would work well,, or you can do away with the tomatoes & ricotta altogether and add some pan seared or left over cooked mushrooms, a little cream and a nice drizzle of truffle oil, —Aliwaks

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Baked Polenta, eggs, ricotta
  • 2 cups leftover polenta
  • 4 halves rosted tomatoes
  • 4 beautiful eggs
  • 1/4 grated ricotta salata
  • 3/4 cup fresh ricotta
  • 1 + tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • Roasted Tomatoes
  • 2 large nice plum tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 1 sprig rosemary (small)
  • Salt & pepper
Directions
  1. Baked Polenta, eggs, ricotta
  2. Drizzle olive oil in bottom of oven proof dish
  3. Prepare polenta according to package (feel free to add a bit more milk, a bit more butter a nice handful of ricotta salata or percorino cheese), if using left over polenta, warm in pan with small amount of milk or stock till creamy, if using polenta in a tube, mash with potato masher first..then warm in pan with milk or stock the end result should be creamy
  4. pour polenta in to oven proof dish, make little indentations for eggs
  5. crack eggs into little indentations
  6. arrange tomatoes around eggs
  7. dollop ricotta around ( not over egg yolk)
  8. Sprinkle with Ricotta Salata
  9. Drizzle with remaining Olive Oil, & lay rosemary branch over top
  10. Cover with foil ( or if cooking vessel has cover use that)
  11. Cook in 350 degree over @ 15 - 20 min till whites are set
  12. remove foil, cover & rosemary sprig & flash under broiler for a minute or two, yolks should be runny..sometimes they are not, which is also ok but not as wonderful
  13. To serve: Fresh cracked black pepper and really good salt.. and extra drizzle of good olive oil won't hurt neither will torn basil leaves of chopped chives.
  1. Roasted Tomatoes
  2. Halve tomatoes and set cut side down in small oven proof dish.
  3. Drizzle with olive oil, zest, salt & pepper
  4. set rosemary sprig in pan
  5. roast at 300 till soft ...maybe 1 hr - 45 or leave over night in gas oven
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See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • TheWimpyVegetarian
    TheWimpyVegetarian
  • melissav
    melissav
  • Aliwaks
    Aliwaks
  • abbyarnold
    abbyarnold
  • Kelsey Banfield
    Kelsey Banfield

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6 Reviews

TheWimpyVegetarian
TheWimpyVegetarian August 30, 2010
Wow! I missed this first time around. I love how this sounds! Saved it to make it soon. Thanks!
 
melissav
melissav June 13, 2010
I was looking for a recipe to use up some leftover homemade ricotta and stumbled onto this recipe. We had it for breakfast yesterday and it was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
 
Aliwaks
Aliwaks December 27, 2009
Abby,

Loving accoutrements! So happy you enjoyed it and what a nice holiday gift to read this comment!!!
 
abbyarnold
abbyarnold December 26, 2009
I made this for Christmas brunch. It was a huge hit! I used large Italian baking dishes, put in all the ingredients and baked them for about an hour. (Most everyone likes their eggs on the firm side.) I roasted the tomatoes the day before. Twelve of us feasted on the polenta, accompanied by sliced oranges, dressed greens, and bacon. Pomegranate and lemon cocktails made for a festive mood! We finished with Black Cake and lemon bars, followed by walks and naps. Merry Christmas to all!
 
Kelsey B.
Kelsey B. December 3, 2009
I just picked up some polenta in anticipation of reading this recipes - this is the dish I am going to start with!
 
Helen
Helen December 1, 2009
I love this dish at Five Points, and always have it when I'm there for brunch. I'll have to try yours!