Could I use Polenta...?!
I have just stummbled accross ready made polenta and have been told that if I roll it out I could use it as a pizza base (interesting)... If I rolled it out could I use it as a pastry substitute for a quiche or a pie and if yes would I roll it out thin or htink?? Any help would be great and any other things I can do with ready made polenta would be good too!
Answers: Hi there, thanks for stopping by.
I have just stummbled accross ready made polenta and have been told that if I roll it out I could use it as a pizza base (interesting)... If I rolled it out could I use it as a pastry substitute for a quiche or a pie and if yes would I roll it out thin or htink?? Any help would be great and any other things I can do with ready made polenta would be good too!
Polenta is cornmeal mush. It is coarse ground cornmeal that is slowly cooked (takes me about 20 or 30 minutes of boiling and stirring-so ready made is a great idea!).
It could make a cornmeal pie crust or pizza crust. I have never tried ready made polenta as a pizza base (but I do have a recipe that uses cornmeal, real corn, and vegan sourcream to make a delicious crispy crunch pizza crust). You could possibly roll it out, but it is so moisture rich that I don't know if it would evaporate to a crispy crust. To answer your question, would be to try it thin first, and bake it first, and then put in the toppings and sauce (same for the quiche- get the water to evaporate first). And roll it between some plastic wrap cause with all that moisture it will stick to everything!
I do polenta italian with the basil tomato sauce and melted vegan cheese over the top, or mexican with chili and salsa over the top. And by top, I mean that I would fry the little circles up in some olive oil/grapeseed oil.
I think that because Polenta is made with rice and not rice flour, it might fall apart if you try to use it as a pizza base.
The premade polenta in a tube is very hard, and I don't think it will roll. I slice it thinly and either fry it in butter (so good, and soooo bad) or cover it on sauce and cheese and bake it. (like a pizza).
You can slice it to fit in the bottom of a pan, but it won't roll. Good luck!
Bread it with soy or wheat flour and deep fry it in grape of flax-seed oil. That is so yummy.
I don't think that would work...I have eaten a lot of Polenta in my time and I doubt it would be a good crust...it would not fluff like a crust or pastry
Because polenta is made from corn, it doesn't have binding properties.
Is there any reason you avoid wheat? If you are not gluten intolerant, I suggest purchasing vital wheat gluten and blending it in with polenta (1 part gluten, 4 to 7 parts polenta, more gluten for pizza, less gluten for pastry) to add structure.