THE STARVING ARTIST
Hello friends!
For all of my fellow artists out there, here is an inspirational quote:
“Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make. Good. Art.” ~Neil Gaiman
This applies to art, life and COOKING!
I was shown a similar version of this recipe by my long time friend, Anne. She is amazing, and I love her.
I have created many versions of this, as it is quite simple to change up by just changing the toppings.
When I cook, I very Very rarely measure things out. I’m a “throw it in the pot and see what happens” kind of gal. So please excuse the lack of precise measurements in this recipe…
POLENTA PIZZA
Combine:
2 C cornmeal
1 C vegetable or chicken stock
1 C cream (or just more chicken/vegetable stock) in to a pot on the stove.
Sprinkle in some salt, pepper, dried parsley, oregano and/or basil. Just enough to give it some delicious flavour!
Cook this on medium heat and stir often. Once the cornmeal begins to absorb the liquid, add in 3/4 C grated parmesan cheese.
Stir like crazy to avoid the bottom burning. You want the cheese to melt, and the cornmeal to get nice and thick. Once it’s all thickened up, pour it on to a greased pan (I like to use my round 8″ cake pan that has a separate bottom you can pop off”. Flatten and apply some pressure down to make sure that it’s a nice condensed pizza base, roughly a thumbnail thick. Put this baby in to the oven at 350 for about 10-15 minutes while you do the next few steps. (And don’t forget to eat what’s left in the pot. It’s super tasty!)
In a frying pan, cook up some ground beef. I add salt, pepper, dried parsley, oregano and/or basil. Cook it till the red is gone, but don’t over cook the beef. You want it still to be nice and moist. Yes. I said moist. It’s not that bad of a word, come on. 😉
Take the polenta base out of the oven and grate on some more cheese, or if you have it, spread some goat cheese on, mmmm. Then I throw on pretty much a whole bag or 3/4 bag of spinach, then the beef, then more CHEEEESE! This is all up to you how much cheese and all that jazz you want on this. I just really love cheese…
Sprinkle on some more salt and pepper and pop it back in the oven for 15 minutes, or however long it takes for the cheese to melt, and the spinach to cook down.
Cheese, meat and more cheese -what the heck is this girl thinking? The starving artist does not have these ingredients in the budget! Well my friends, you can buy cheaper cheese, and trust me, this whole pizza will feed you for the week. It is incredibly filling and so tasty. I like to heat it up every time I eat it because it just tastes better that way. Feel free to change up the toppings. If you can’t afford the meat, throw on a bunch of veggies like spinach and tomatoes, or spinach and kale, or whatever is on sale at the grocery store. I’m sure even some cooked tofu would be great on top. And don’t go crazy on the cheese if it’s not in the budget. Just some cheap mozzarella or that parmesan mom always had in the fridge growing up, will do. Just remember to have fun with this one.
If this week is as hard on the wallet as mine has been, (having just filmed a music video, recorded a song, etc.) PB+J on toast is a classic. It may not sound like dinner, but that peanut butter has protein, the bread carbs fill you up, and the jam is just -nom nom nom!
Keep pursuing that dream my friends! Follow your heart, and don’t let that stomach grumble!
Sending much love,
Jodi