One of my favorite holidays growing up was Valentine’s Day. The whole day was devoted to whispering about crushes, eating too much candy and sharing cards during the Valentine’s Day party at the end of school. I loved all those teeny cards with the corny puns and all the heart-shapes stickers, but I especially loved the candy.
One thing that always comes with this holiday is all the sugary treats; heart-shaped cookies, pink-frosted cupcakes and tons of white-sugar conversation hearts. For a healthier alternative to heart-shaped sweets to make with your little ones, why not make heart-shaped, whole wheat pancakes with bright red raspberry sauce, heart-cutout peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or try this recipe below for Heart-Shaped Polenta and Tomato Sauce.
With or without tomato sauce, kids love the mild, spongy texture of baked polenta and the simple flavors of butter and creamy cheese. You can keep it simple for the kids with just a bit of cheese and sauce, or you can get a little more creative for mom and dad by adding herbs, sautéed mushrooms and stronger cheese like Parmesan. Your kids can help you in the kitchen with this dish. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, allow your kids to cut out the cooled polenta. They can also help you in the kitchen with stirring both the sauce and the polenta and grating the final cheese on top.
Recipe for Heart-Shaped Polenta Cakes with Tomato Sauce on Foodista
http://www.foodista.com/recipe/KZLYYGMZ/heart-shaped-polenta-cakes-with-tomato-sauce
2 cups Chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup Corn meal
1 teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Pepper
3 tablespoons Parmesan, grated (You may wish to use a milder cheese for kids, like Monterey jack or Fontina.)
1 tablespoon butter
1 jar organic tomato sauce
Preparation
Step 1
Heat chicken stock in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add salt, pepper and butter and continue to heat until stock boils.
Step 2
Slowly whisk in the cornmeal. Continue whisking until mixture becomes thick.
Step 3
Fold in Parmesan with a spoon.
Step 4
Immediately pour mixture into a shallow pan. Smooth out to desired thickness, place in refrigerator and allow to cool.
Step 5
Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to punch out heart shapes.
Step 6
Reheat heart shaped polenta cakes in 350-degree oven for 8 minutes.
Step 7
While the polenta cakes are warming up, heat up the tomato sauce in another sauté pan over medium-high heat until warm.
Step 8
Place one polenta cake onto each plate and top with tomato sauce. Garnish with grated cheese.
For the adult crowd, jazz up the tomato sauce with sautéed mushrooms and fresh herbs.
This recipe was supplied by Melissa Peterman from www.foodista.com. Check out their website! They are local and it's really an amazing site! Thanks for sharing Melissa! The photo is from Special Dark: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allthingschill/.
