Not that anyone ever needs an alternative to pizza, but if you were looking to go about it in a very different way, this could be your answer. You use polenta to make the base, rather than a standard white flour crust and I thought it rather lovely. In fact, instead of serving this as a meal, you could cut the polenta with a biscuit round once it’s set and make minis to serve as an app at a party.

Because there is warm and bubbly gorgonzola cheese on the top, the polenta has no need for the likes of milk or cream and is made simply with water. For an additional twist, you could cook it with chicken or vegetable broth instead.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups polenta
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon salted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 medium onions, cut in half and sliced thin
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
  • 4 oz. gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a cast iron skillet and saute the onions over a low heat until they are light brown in color, stirring occasionally (this will take upwards of 30 minutes)
  2. Bring salted water to a boil in a medium sauce pan
  3. When the water comes to a boil, add the polenta slowly, while stirring, and reduce the heat to low
  4. Continue stirring and cook for about 10 minutes, until it thickens
  5. Spread the thick porridge into a 9″ tart pan and set it aside
  6. Preheat the oven to 350
  7. Add the garlic to the caramelized onions and continue to saute for another minute, stirring constantly
  8. Season with salt and pepper, add the chopped thyme and mix
  9. Spread the onion mixture over polenta and top with gorgonzola
  10. Bake this in the oven for about 10 minutes, then move under a broiler for 2 minutes to put the final bubble on the cheese, and the last crisp on the onions

This recipe founds its inspiration at World’s Healthiest Foods.

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