The Polenta Pizza
Polenta Pizza made at home is faster than making normal dough and is what all the cool kids are doing these days. Here is how it's done!
The Polenta Pizza
Jump to RecipeI kind of pulled a fast one on you guys last week in the poll. I pulled such a fast one, in fact, that it even fooled me. You see, I listed polenta pizza and gluten-free pizza in the poll, but guess what? Polenta pizza is gluten-free. It’s just corn after all so there’s no gluten to be had there!
After I got to thinking about it, it might actually be the easiest way to make gluten-free pizza. You don’t need half a dozen special flours or anything. All you need is freakin’ ground up corn. And cheese. It is pizza after all.
The Polenta Pizza
- Serves:
- Serves 4
- Prep Time:
- Total Time:
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This is made at home is faster than making normal dough and is what all the cool kids are doing these days. Here is how it’s done!
Ingredients
Instructions
1) I like to start this recipe by lining a baking sheet with parchment paper and then drizzling it lightly with olive oil. The parchment paper isn’t essential, but if you don’t use it, make sure to oil your sheet well.
2) Bring water and milk to a slight simmer over medium heat with the salt. Whisk in the polenta and continue to stir until thick. Turn heat down to low and cook for 10-15 minutes until polenta is very thick.
3) Stir 1 tablespoon of olive oil into polenta.
4) Spread polenta out onto prepared baking sheet and spread it over the surface of the pan. It should be 1/3-1/2 inch thick ideally. You don’t want it too thin. It probably won’t make it all the way to the edges of the sheet and that’s fine.
5) Let polenta chill for at least 45 minutes.
6) Meanwhile, in a large skillet, add a drizzle of oil and onions. Cook for a few minutes over medium heat until soft. Then add pepper, garlic, and season with salt and pepper.
7) Roughly chop chard and rinse well, then add to skillet. Cook until chard is wilted, about five minutes. STir regularly to prevent burning of the garlic. Once the chard is wilted down, remove from heat.
8) Remove polenta from fridge and preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake polenta with nothing on it for 20 minutes to crisp it up.
9) Remove polenta, drizzle with olive oil and distribute mozz cheese evenly over the surface.
10) Then add on your chard and crumbled asiago (or manchego) cheese.
11) Add pizza back to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. The edges should be lightly browned and crispy and cheese should be melted.
12) Slice and serve immediately! You probably won’t be able to actually pick up a slice. It’s a fork-style pizza.
Polenta Pizza: Making the Crust
I was obviously a bit worried about the crust step for this pizza idea even though I’ve kind of done it before. This version turned out way better than the earlier version though. The toppings worked a lot better and the crust crisped up nicely which I liked.
Step one is obviously making polenta. There’s nothing hard about this. Just bring the water, milk, and salt to a slight simmer over medium heat and then whisk in the polenta.
Continue to stir this over medium heat until it start to really thicken. You’ll have to stir it for about 10 minutes or so until it’s nice and thick.
Then I recommend seasoning it well with salt and pepper and stirring in some olive oil. The olive oil will help the crust get crispy and also prevent sticking later.
Grab a large baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. The parchment paper is optional, but trust me, it will make clean-up a lot easier.
Whether or not you use parchment paper, give your baking surface a good drizzle of olive oil and then spread out your polenta over the surface. You want it to be about 1/3-1/2 inch thick all over. My was actually a bit on the THIN side I think.
Stick this whole pan in the fridge for about 45-60 minutes which will make the polenta firm up and turn solid.
Now you’re ready to bake it!
Baking the Polenta Pizza
You need to bake the polenta with nothing on it for 20 minutes to draw out some of the liquid. So preheat your oven to about 425 degrees Fahrenheit and let it bake for 20 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, we can work on the filling. I used some beautiful rainbow chard, but you could use swiss chard or just spinach. You need about 8 ounces of greens.
Add some olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat and add the diced onion. Cook until the onion is soft, about five minutes. Then add the minced garlic and pepper. After that cooks for a few seconds, add in all your chopped chard.
I recommend chopping the chard roughly and cutting out the thickest parts of the stems. You could leave them in if you wanted a bit more texture though.
Add the chard and cook it until it wilts down. Season this all with salt and pepper.
Finishing the Pizza
After the pizza crust has baked for 20 minutes, remove it from the oven and drizzle it with a small amount of olive oil. You don’t want pools of oil here, just a little moisture. Then top with your grated cheese.
To be honest, I think I used a bit too much cheese. I used 8 ounces of grated cheese and I think 5-6 ounces would have been plenty.
Then spread your chard topping over the surface and sprinkle on your crumbled asiago cheese. You could also use manchego or any semi-hard cheese with lots of flavor.
Add this back to the oven and bake for another 10-12 minutes.
It’s done when the cheese is melted, the crust is slightly browned around the edges and the chard is starting to get crispy in some parts.
Let this cool a bit before slicing it.
If you slice the pieces small enough you can actually pick them up like real pizza, but personally, I just ate my pieces with a fork.
It was really good fork pizza.
One downside of this pizza (possibly the only downside) is that it isn’t great cold. You can reheat pieces in the oven though to keep the crust a bit crispy or microwave them if you’re in a rush.
Anybody else made polenta pizza before? I thought it was great and pretty easy!
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Hello! My name is Nick Evans and I write and manage Macheesmo. I started Macheesmo 11 years ago when I was just learning my way around the kitchen. I love to cook and love everything food-related, but I have no formal training. These days I focus on fast, accessible recipes with the occasional “reach” recipe!
I’ve posted almost 2,000 recipes on Macheesmo. For each one, I do my best to give full explanations of what I did and tips on what I’d do differently next time. I’ll bring up the tricky parts and the easy parts.
I hope you can find something and cook something!
I haven’t tried polenta pizza, but cauliflower pizza is delish! Nicely done!
Sounds intriguing! Do you suppose it would work with grits? I don’t have any cornmeal on hand, but I do have some grits. It’s either that or grind up some popcorn in the blender…
Sure. Grits and polenta are technically the same thing. :)
Drooling over the cheese and the chard on here! I mean really, this whole thing looks super scrumptious!
I’m really into polenta lately. I haven’t done a formal pizza, but I do like it topped with sauce and cheese, which is essentially the same thing… just less fussy (and less fun!)
Se ve delicioso. In Mexico despite we have corn in the middle of our meals, we don´t cosume polenta. It seems a nice way to eat pizza healthier. tks!
That looks scrumptious. I did make something called Pretty Corny Pizza once from Laurel’s Kitchen, with a bunch of summer squash in the crust, and that was tasty but not as decadent as this one.
Re: Zafiro’s comment, in Brazil we put corn kernels on pizza too. There’s a special cheese that goes with it, but for my taste the ingredient that really makes it is the oregano sprinkled on top.
I never would have thought to use polenta as a base for pizza, but it’s definitely a great unique idea!
Haha, you tricked us! Looks simple, quick and would be great after a long day. Reminds me of hortopita, a Greek pie with a cornmeal crust. which I made recently: http://foodflavorfascination.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/greek-greens-pie-with-cornbread-crust-hortopita/
Whoa. I’ve never heard of that. It looks DAMN good. :)
Looks great, can’t wait to try this! I have not used polenta for a crust before, but I have made “pizza” with mashed potatoes. I spread the mashed potatoes out on a baking sheet, then for sauce, I used chicken gravy and topped with peas/corn/carrots. It was sort of an upside down, veggie shepherd’s pie.
I loved ! It is really yummy! I added rosemary to polenta. Thank you !!
Simone
This looks amazing! What a great idea! Can’t wait to give it a try.
I will definitely be trying this soon! Maybe tomorrow since I don’t have anything better planned! I’m going to try red cabbage instead of swiss chard. Not sure how that will go, but I will let you know.
I made this for lunch, and it was delicious. I used what ingredients I had at home and knew that my picky eater would like. I used pizza sauce with pureed squash, and new York sharp cheddar cheese. My daughter wants to have it again tomorrow for lunch!!! Thank you for a great recipe. I am going to have to make 2 next ime. One with your ingredients and one for our daughter.
Looks delicious!!! I have made polenta squares & topped them with sauce, cheese, meat & vegetables. I really like your idea of a thinner polenta to achieve more of a crust. I love your recipes!!!
Great idea, I can’t wait to try it with the chard topping. I have been making GF pizza using buckwheat flour with a bit of flax, but this looks even easier.
As a tip: I use a silicone baking mat laid on top of the metal cookie sheet for making all pizza and crackers. The silicone is non-stick even if you don’t grease it and removes the possibility that your base will merge with the baking parchment. Only note that you can’t cut on it since it has fibreglass under the silicon holding it together – but it’s easy to slide it off onto a plate. For anyone who makes flax crackers these sheets are a godsend.
Looks delicious, I know it is healthy & gluetten free, just watched on Dr Ozz
just made this but with spinach, using crushed red pepper in the polenta. it was incredible and easy enough to do with a screaming infant on your hip. epic win.
I am making something similar right now. I made the polenta crust, adding spinach, red onion, poblano peppers, and goat cheese on top with some crushed red pepper. I will add sliced avacado when I take it from the oven.
Just made this polenta crust recipe tonight. I cut the recipe in half. I followed the directions exactly, but found it needed a lot more time than the additional 8-10 minutes in the oven. Even with just half the recipe and a 1/4 thick crust, it took closer to 30 minutes. I didn’t have the topping ingredients on hand, so I used spinach, diced peppers, feta cheese, omitted the mozzarella (darn diet!) but brushed the crust with olive oil infused with garlic. I added red pepper flakes and tossed it in the oven. I will make it again! Very tasty.
This pizza recipe sounds delicious! When you bake the polenta crust, does it come out soft or crunchy? My hubby had teeth removed and I’m looking for a pizza recipe where the crust is very soft.
Hey Sharon, sorry for the delay! I had a baby… haha. Anyway, the edges of the pizza get a bit crispy, but the interior crust stays relatively soft. Hope that helps!
Had it for supper tonight – delicious. Lots of possible toppings. Will try lacinato kale and squash next. Was a bit impacient and didn’t pre bake the polenta crust the full 20 minutes, but it was still excellent.
Made this tonight with parmesan in the base and antipasta, fetta and spinach on top. Sooo nice. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Nick, I have a box of instant polenta.. would that work?