We may be giving you a break from another grilled recipe but these Fried Polenta Appetizers were fried outdoors. . . close to the grill. 🙂 We have a deep fryer that we move outside to our “fry station”. Clean up is easy and there is no “fry” smell in the house. No matter where these little slices are fried, the crunchy appetizers are so delicious they are worth whatever it takes to make them.
When we made our Grilled Whole Pork Tenderloin With Peppers Over Polenta we had extra polenta so my Honey decided to get creative. He already knew what he wanted to do — make fried polenta appetizers. So he poured the extra polenta into a small loaf pan and put it in the refrigerator to let it firm up.
Several days later he decided it was time to see how the fried polenta appetizers would turn out. He upended the loaf onto a cutting board and cut the loaf into slices. Now I want you to look at those slices. Don’t they look good? Hubby is the knife pro in the family, as I’ve mentioned before. Those nice, even pieces would not look that way had I sawed the loaf.
Now here is where I jumped in — I coated the slices with flour, dipped the slices in buttermilk, then coated them with panko crumbs. *my part here was very crucial*
The slices are now ready to be made into Fried Polenta Appetizers. We were excited about the experiment — really, we knew it would taste good — how can polenta possible taste bad? Add coating the slices with crunchy panko crumbs and you have ambrosia — just like our Fried Green Tomatoes.
The fried polenta appetizers turned out even better than we anticipated. The only dilemma we had was what to suggest using as a dip. I ate mine as is — I didn’t think they needed anything else.
Would you use as a dip for these delicious fried polenta appetizers? If so, what?
L’antipasto fa venire l’acqualina in bocca.{The appetizer makes the mouth water}
Did you know that August 10th is the Feast of San Lorenzo and he is patrono dei cuochi (patron saint of cooks)?
I didn’t until just recently.
And the feast of San Lorenzo coincides with the Perseus meteor shower — shooting stars are known as ” San Lorenzo”s tears” or in Italy ” le lacrime di San Lorenzo”. He was ordered put to death by being roasted alive because he didn’t follow the unreasonable orders of emperor Valerian.
So if you want to wish on a star, go outside this evening and watch for the stelle cadenti (falling stars) and if you see one that captures your eye, recite . . .
Stella, mia bella stella, desidero che . . . .{fill in your wish}.
(Star, my beautiful star, I wish for . . . .) May all your wishes come true.
Un caro saluto e alla prossima.
Fried Polenta Appetizers
Ingredients
- 12 oz. Polenta made according to directions.
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour **
- 1 cup Buttermilk**
- 2 cups Panko Crumbs**
- Loaf pan -- small 3" X 5 1/2"
- Peanut oil for frying
Instructions
- Polenta should be made a day or more ahead of time. Pour the polenta in a vegetable sprayed small loaf pan. Let it get cold, cover with plastic wrap then put in the refrigerator to firm up.
- Remove the polenta from the loaf pan onto a cutting board. With a very sharp knife cut into 1/2" slices.
- Coat the slices first in flour, then moisten with buttermilk letting the excess drain off, then finally coat with panko crumbs gently pressing the crumbs onto the polenta slice.
- Place the slices on a rack until ready to fry.
- Preheat oil to 340 F.
- Gently add several slices to the hot oil. Don't crowd the polenta slices. When they turn a nice golden brown they are done. Remove from the oil and let drain on paper towers. Sprinkle with salt. You will have to do this in several batches to get all of the slices fried.
Notes
- ** you may need more of these ingredients as you prepare the polenta slices.
- If you don't have a deep fryer, use a deep pan and fill it half way with oil. Let the oil reach 340 F and follow the method above and use a spider (a wide shallow wire-mesh basket) or something similar to remove the fried slices. Using tongs may break the hot slices.
Nutrition
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Gloria says
Totally LOVE polenta. I have never tried making it this way. I will have to …. looks totally delicious….and addictive. What a fun recipe for entertaining too.
Marisa Franca says
Thank you, Gloria. Fried polenta is amazing.
Julieanne says
We have just returned from Florence
and I had crispy fried polenta with wild boar ragu. absolutely delicious. It’s easy to get wild boar in Britain now so going to have a go.
Marisa Franca says
Ooooh!! I bet the dish was scrumptious!! Let me know how you make it, Julieanne! And take photos!! I’d love to see the dish.
mila says
I always said if I wasn’t Russian I would be Italian. Mostly because of polenta and Risotto! These are so fantastic. Really! Like absolutely delicious and divine looking!!! Absolutely in love! Crispy warm polenta goodness 🙂
Marisa Franca says
I know!! I could have forgotten the rest of the meal and just pigged out!!
Simply Suzannes at Home says
Oh yum!!
What about a something a little heartier like a meat sauce filled with herbs. Sounds yummy to me!
I’ve never had polenta, but I’ve seen it on cooking shows a lot over the years. Would these taste good baked??
Oh! These look like they like would taste wonderful on a big, beautiful salad!
LOVE all your recipes!!
I hope you’re having a great start to your week!
Suzanne
Marisa Franca says
I think anything would taste great with the polenta. Polenta is served many times with a meat sauce. We haven’t baked the panko covered polenta but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. It may take a little experimentation but I think you could get a crunchy exterior. And I have seen polenta croutons on salad –hmmmmmm — we may be making lots of left over polenta. Our weekend started out great, we took our daughter out to lunch for her birthday and gave her her gifts, Cappuccino no-churn ice cream I made her along with the Tiramisu Cake with Zabaglione topping. She loved everything!!
Thistle says
These look so yummy! Thanks so much for sharing and making it look so easy. 🙂
Happy day friend!
karianne
Marisa Franca says
Well, I guess when I don’t have to do the slicing it is easy 🙂 But heck, I’m a master at dusting with flour, dredging in buttermilk and coating with panko crumbs. Don’t forget to wish on a star tonight!
Jovina Coughlin says
These look delicious, Marisa and certainly are a great appetizer. If I were serving them to guests, I would offer several kinds of sauces to accompany the polenta slices. Nothing too runny like a marinara but a salsa verde and a fresh tomato sauce similar to one I use for bruschetta. Great idea.
Marisa Franca says
Your suggestions sound delicious. I believe we will have to make polenta just for appetizers! Our kids and grandkids haven’t tasted these yet, heaven forbid!! That will be a request for every family get together.
Ciao Chow Linda says
Wow do these sound great. I can’t wait to try them – with or without a sauce. I could see these with a tomato sauce, a cheese sauce, even a pesto sauce. Thanks for the reminder on the night of the shooting stars. Have you seen the movie “La Notte di San Lorenzo”? Wonderful film.
Marisa Franca says
No I haven’t seen the film but I’ll make a point of finding it and viewing. Thank you for the tip!! I’ll love all movies about Italy. I was trying to explain to Hubby about why I liked Come September. He gave me that glazed look. Oh well, I enjoyed it.