Polenta with Sofrito and Fried Eggs

We were very late with our meal plan this week, waiting until Monday to do it, and I have been revising the plan as the week went has gone on (which is part of why I never posted the thing).   We were supposed to eat frozen lasagna for dinner last night but I forgot to thaw it and didn’t want to cook it frozen because that takes forever.

“No worries,”  I thought, ”I’ll just make dutch babies .”  Alas, no all-purpose flour, and they just aren’t good with 100% whole wheat.

“Okay, so what then?”  Then I saw the jar of grits from Georgia.  Yes, from Georgia, where we lived more than 10 months ago.   And then the idea of polenta floated into my head.

So I decided I could make polenta with those grits.  Polenta is so easy and delicious, and topped with a simple sauce it tastes wonderful.  I decided to make a sofrito , which is like a cooked salsa, and added an egg, sunny-side-up, on top.  Very quickly I had a simple, delicious meal, made without much prep or cooking time.  I had forgotten how much I love the creamy taste of polenta and we all finished off everything in no time, leaving us without leftovers (which was sad because we all wanted more!).

These eggs are from “Silky” hens, from the same farm where we got our apples pressed into juice .  They were definitely free range, seeing as the chickens were wandering about all over the place!  Can you spot the double yolker?

Polenta

• 1 small onion, diced
• 1-2 Tbs. oil or butter
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup polenta (or coarse grits)
• 1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
• (a few spoonfuls of milk)

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat and add the onion.  Fry for 2-3 minutes then add the water and bring to a boil. Add the polenta and lower the heat to a simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the polenta is soft and the water is all absorbed or evaporated. Add a bit of milk if you like along with the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.

Sofrito

• 1 small onion, diced
  
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1-2 Tbs. oil
• 1-2 sweet peppers, diced
• (1 jalepeño, diced)
• 4-10 tomatoes, diced (the number depends on the size of the tomatoes and how tomato-y you like it)
• dash of ground cumin

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic.  Saute for 2-3 minutes then add the peppers and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes more.  Add the tomatoes and cumin, and season with salt and pepper.  Simmer over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes , stirring occasionally until it begins to turn into a thick, chunky sauce.

Fried Egg

• 1-2 eggs per person
• oil
• salt and pepper

Heat oil in a cast iron pan and when hot crack the egg into the pan and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper.  If it’s a large pan add multiple eggs.  For soft, runny yokes do not break the yoke or flip the egg.  For a slightly runny yoke flip the egg after the egg white has mostly solidified and cook briefly on the other side.

Finished Product

Taking the three parts above start with a base of polenta, spoon on the sofrito, and top with the egg.  Finish your plate quickly to get seconds before everyone else….