Spaghetti squash is very versatile, delicious and fun to eat. I would not say it can replace spaghetti because if you are craving spaghetti, eating spaghetti squash will not satisfy you but it’s a light vegetable that can be prepared like spaghetti, so you just have to use your imagination. It would be a quick dish to prepare if you didn’t have to cook the squash.

The trick is to not over cook the squash or it will get mushy and soft and produce water, so the texture will be difficult to handle. The fun part of eating spaghetti squash is to work with the stringy texture, so I recommend to not overcook it.

I used express polenta that cooks in a few minutes, it will save you a lot of time. Regular polenta takes hours to cook so when using it as a element in a dish instead like this one instead of being the main focus of a dish, I use express polenta. Usually the quantity is 4 tbs per person for 1/4 liter liquid. since we are using it as a cake in this recipe, I used less.

Ingredients for 2-3

For the polenta

• 2 cups (or 1/2 liter) vegetable broth
• herbes de Provence
• 8 tbs express polenta

For the spaghetti squash

• 1 small spaghetti squash cut in half lengthwise, wrapped in foil
• 300 g extra firm tofu finely diced
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 onion finely chopped
• 2 heirloom tomatoes, seeds removed, peeled and chopped
• 2 zucchini diced
• 1 small red bell pepper diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• piment d’Espelette
• 1 tbs chives, chopped

Preparation

For the polenta

In a pot, bring broth to a boil. Add herbes de Provence, then add polenta gradually. Stir constantly until thick and homogeneous. Remove from heat. Spread on a wooden board and make it 1.5 cm thick. let it cool to make it solid. When solid, cut rounds with a rind (that you will use to mount that little “tower” shape).

For the spaghetti squash

Preheat oven to 400F. Wrap the squash in foil. Bake in the oven for about 45 min until cooked but still firm to the touch.

In a pan, heat olive oil. Add tofu and cook tofu on all sides until golden. Remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan, add extra olive oil. Add onion and let it soften. Add all vegetables, garlic and piment d’Espelette. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cover and let cook at medium heat until tomato has reduced and vegetables cooked but still firm. Add tofu and chives. Mix well.

Place one polenta cake at the bottom of a plate. Using your rind, add some squash mixture. Add another polenta cake, and more squash. Drizzle some olive oil around and decorate with fresh herbs.

I am not sure how this recipe was made alive, I kept looking at my two packs of polenta, thinking I need to use them at some point. I love polenta, I just never think of making it. It’s one of those things that you need to have it in your pantry but then, in the pantry it remains. I grew up eating the traditional polenta from Marche region in Italy, the way my mom used to make it, with tomato-rabbit sauce. It was delicious but a little too stuffy.

Polenta has many uses and is quite a versatile ingredient. You can make sweet cakes, or use it as a thickening agent, or anything you like.

I used almond milk in this recipe, the natural kind which contains only almonds and water, and no thickening agents and flavors.

This is a simple dish, enhanced by the sweet pepper coulis. A perfect dish for a hearty lunch for one of those muggy days in the city. This pepper coulis could be the base of pesto, but I didn’t add any parmesan nor nuts so it has a smoother texture and more liquid.

Ingredients for 3-4 cakes

For the cakes

• 300 g baby spinach
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup natural almond milk
• 6 oz (or 170 g) express polenta
• 3 tbs feta, crumbled + 2 tbs
• 1 tbs mixed herbs, chopped
• salt and pepper

For the pepper coulis

• 2 red bell peppers
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp piment d’espelette
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs basil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the cakes

Preheat oven at 380F.

Heat non stick pot, add spinach and cook until wilted. Remove from pot, squeeze water and chop roughly.

In a mixing container, combine milk and eggs and beat well. Add spinach, onion and polenta. Add crumble feta and herbs. Adjust with salt and pepper and mix well.

Using silicon molds (about 8 cm each) or non stick mini pans, divide the mixture in each container.

Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until the top gets golden.

Serve hot with pepper coulis.

For the pepper coulis

Roast peppers under broiler until the skin gets burnt on all sides. Remove from oven and let it cool in a plastic bag.

Remove the peel and seeds.

Add all ingredients in a mixer and mix to a smooth texture.

Who said that polenta only needs to be eaten in savory dishes? I was so excited about this dessert, that I have been thinking about it for days. Let’s also enjoy the peaches while they last, soon they’ll no longer be available. I cannot believe it’s already September.

In France, we have some semolina based desserts like this one (gâteau à la semoule) that the kids usually love (well adults too). So I somehow decided to play with polenta. You need a medium to fine grind. I don’t like to use the coarse kind that much. This polenta has such a fragrant vanilla and milky flavor, I could not stop eating it from the pot. The peach is roasted in honey and rum, which makes every bits a real delight. If you combine on your spoon some polenta cake, peach, mascarpone and run sauce, you might end up being addicted to it.

The peaches need to be ripe but still firm so they don’t overcook quickly while in the oven.

While I was playing with my dessert, I got caught on the phone for a short time, I did not realized that someone was stealing my crumbs. My dog Enzo is as obsessed with food as I am. Of course, a dog being a dog, his obsessions limit themselves too eating food rather than preparing it. I think if I were a dog, I would be just like him. While distracted on the phone, I did not see Enzo, open the kitchen cabinet, and steel the breadcrumbs jar. He opened the lid, left the lid laying on the kitchen floor, took the bread crumbs jar in “his room”, spreading the crumbs on the rug before eating them, and of destroying the jar in pieces. Then after his fight with the crumbs, he hid underneath the bed to hide, knowing he was in trouble.

When I saw his moustache I could not stop laughing, schnauzers have funky moustaches that get easily dirty.

Ingredients for 4

For the polenta cakes

• 200 ml milk
• 30 g heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean cut lengthwise and beans scraped
• 50 g sugar
• 65 g polenta
• 2 tbs golden raisins
• 8 dried apricots, unsweetened and cut in small pieces
• 3 tbs rum

For the roasted peaches

• 2 large yellow peaches, peeled and cut in half and seed removed
• 1 tbs honey
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 1 tbs sliced almonds, toasted
• 4 tbs mascarpone

Preparation

For the polenta cakes

In a pot, combine milk and cream, sugar and vanilla bean. Bring to a boil. Add polenta gradually while stirring. Keep stirring for about 20 minutes (you can also use express polenta). Add extra milk if the polenta gets too thick. Add raisins and apricots pieces. Mix well. Spread in a flat surface keeping the thickness to about 2 cm. Let it cool. Using cookie cutters, or rinds, cut 4 circles.

For the roasted peaches

Grease a  baking dish with butter. Place peaches halves (flat part down). sprinkle with sugar and honey and cook in a pre-heated oven at 400F for about 15 minutes, then turn the peaches on the other side. Let them cook for another 10 minutes, then deglaze with rum (the soaking rum). Put peaches back in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven let them cool a little.

Place one polenta cake in a plate. Add half peach on top. Add mascarpone on the side and sprinkle with rum sauce.