Olive Polenta Squares

Ask any older Italian and most will tell you that polenta was the dish that was served when families were on a serious budget. My Italian mother-in-law refers to it as porridge!

Add a predominant flavoring ingredient to it, such as olives, and cook it with a highly-seasoned bouillon cube (as opposed to water) and you've got a restaurant quality appetizer. See the Estimated Cost Breakdown for this recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 (3.5 gm) chicken bouillon cubes
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 Cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 (3.8 oz) can sliced olives
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions

• Bring water and bouillon cubes to boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Slowly sprinkle cornmeal into water while quickly whisking mixture. Continue whisking for 3 minutes smoothing out any lumps as mixture thickens. Replace whisk with wooden spoon and cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens, about 1 minute. Spoon should stand in mixture and polenta will come away from sides of pan. Remove from heat and stir in olives.
• Spread mixture on to a lightly oil baking sheet making -inch thick rectangle of polenta. Cool until polenta is set, about 15 minutes. Cut into squares and serve as an appetizer.

  Makes 6 servings.