Baked Polenta Slices

The impetus for this dish was one we have all confronted over the years: "Best if used by" dates. The tube of polenta in the cupboard was a couple weeks past the best if used by date. Well, the debate in my mind began. Is "best if used by" the same as an expiration date? It certainly wasn't the same as a "don't use after" date. It would be fine, I decided. But what to make?

I wanted something simple. Very simple. I decided to just slice the polenta and bake the slabs. That's it. In a nutshell. I sprayed a cookie sheet with olive oil. (The spray bottle is an ingenious little invention that uses air, hand-pumped into the bottle, to create the pressure to create the spray). I cut the roll of polenta into slices, approximately a third of an inch thick and placed them on the oiled cookie sheet. A quick spray of oil on the top, a little black pepper, and a sprig of rosemary, before going into a 450° oven for 10-15 minutes.

For the sauce, I drained a can of diced tomatoes and added some roughly chopped oregano, thyme and rosemary from my herb garden. (There was more rosemary than I needed, as it turned out). I added a spoonful of chopped garlic and about a pound of bay scallops that had been sitting in the freezer, minding their own business. Finally, I added about a half-cup of the generic pasta sauce we had sitting in the fridge. Just enough to bind the ingredients together. I let this cook on medium until it was heated through and bubbling a bit.

As a side, I steamed some pea pods I had picked earlier in the day. I added nothing to them. No salt, no pepper, no butter. Nothing. They were delicious!

Bon appétit!