Unbelievably delicious! Grilled shrimp sir on top of tender stacks of polenta, all drenched with a nutty brown butter sage sauce.
Why I used to be so intimidated by polenta is absolutely beyond me. Each time I make it, I am rewarded with a dish that's full on flavor, but low on effort. When I decided to engage in a Foodie Fight a couple of months ago, I stepped out of my comfort zone and came up with Eggplant & White Wine Polenta Stacks with Fresh Basil Sauce. What is it about polenta that inspires me to stack things? I blame it on my Lego-deprived youth. Between polenta and my sons' newly discovered infatuation with Lego starships, I feel as though I have completed at least one year of an architecture degree. If you have ever put together Anakin Skywalker's Y-Wing Starfighter, you know what I'm talking about. This time I took it one step further and grilled the polenta squares, which highlighted the savory taste of the Parmesan cheese. Heaped with shrimp sauteed with garlic and drenched in a toasty brown butter and sage sauce, the polenta turned from a simple bag of cornmeal into a very special meal.
The polenta:
Place one polenta square on each of four plates. Top each with about 3 shrimp.
Divide the remaining polenta squares among the four servings. Top with the rest of the shrimp.
While the polenta is cooking, add 8 tablespoons (½ cup) unsalted butter to the skillet used for the shrimp, set over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage and cook until the butter turns golden brown.
Season the sauce, to taste, with salt, and spoon it over the shrimp and polenta stacks. Serve immediately.
Kath Eats Real Food's Mexican Polenta Casserole
Garlic Shrimp & Parmesan Polenta Stacks with Brown Butter-Sage Sauce
While the polenta is cooking, add ½ cup unsalted butter to the skillet used for the shrimp, set over medium heat. Add sage and cook until the butter turns golden brown. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt, and spoon it over the shrimp and polenta stacks. Serve immediately.
Chef Fresco
Fit for a gourmet restaurant! I've been wanting to cook w. polenta for a while - good recipe!
Joy
Dara your pictures and food look absolutely amazing! MMmmm I love sage 🙂
5 Star Foodie
A fabulous dish! I love this, definitely bookmarked!
Laura
I love polenta, and pared with the sage sauce... amazing. Simple and delicious. I love the coarse grind, give you more texture, only for baking i use the fine grind.
Christine
Your dish is so tempting. I have to learn to step out of my comfort zone and try polenta. To me, the main problem is not knowing how to handle it and give it a good presentation to entice my family. Your dish is an excellent demonstration. I think my family would definitely love it.
Karen
Excellent! Need to get my sage used up before the first frost. This'll definately do just fine 😀
Kitchen Wizard
This looks wonderful! I just got some polenta and shrimp, so I have to make this tonight or tomorrow...
BTW, you are coming to the Festival, right? Look forward to meeting you in person!
Anne Ritchings
This sounds just fabulous.
Lea Ann
This is very impressive. I love polenta and will have to give this a try. The sauce sounds wonderful!
Actually, the whole thing sounds wonderful.
MaryMoh
I have not tried polenta before. Heard about it though. But this dish looks so pretty and delicious that I would love to try.
Fresh Local and Best
This dish looks so elegant and fancy! I'm glad to know that there is minimal effort involved.
pegasuslegend
Very elegant and gourmet' awesome presentation.... Top 9 in your future on this one for sure!
Heather in SF
Yum! You've taken a childhood favorite of shrimp and grits and elevated it to high art!! Love your shrimp to polenta ratio; speaking as one who can eat her bodyweight in shrimp (wink wink). Your pictures are gorgeous.