Traditional polenta recipes require a lot of stirring, but making polenta in a rice cooker is a breeze! Polenta is made from coarsely ground cornmeal and can be served creamy or cooled and cut into squares and then baked or fried. A nice alternative to pasta or rice – it can be seasoned to compliment different kinds of cuisine.
The perfect comfort food
This creamy polenta recipe favors its Italian origins with a simple mix of zucchini, tomatoes, onions, navy beans, garlic, oregano, basil, marjoram, parsley and a lovely vegan Parmesan cheese. The blend of textures and flavors creates the perfect comfort food!
Creamy Polenta with Zucchini
Ingredients
- 1 cup coarsely ground corn meal
- 4 cups water
- 2 cloves garlic crushed and divided
- 1 cup plant milk I use organic fortified rice milk
- 1 tsp. dried parsley
- ½ cup vegan Parmesan cheese plus additional for topping
- 2 medium zucchini diced ½ inch cubes
- 14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes with zesty mild green chilies – with juice
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 15.5 oz canned low sodium navy beans rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- ½ tsp. dried marjoram
- sea salt and ground black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
Polenta
- Add 4 cups of water to rice cooker.
- Add cornmeal and 1 clove of crushed garlic and stir lightly.
- Close rice cooker and cook polenta on white rice setting (will take about 20-30 minutes).
Zucchini Topping
- While the polenta is cooking, add zucchini, onions, tomatoes, oregano, basil, marjoram and remaining clove of crushed garlic to a 5-quart sauté pan, cover and cook on medium high for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Reduce heat to medium if necessary.)
- Add navy beans to mixture in sauté pan and continue cooking for another 10 minutes on medium, stirring occasionally. Leave uncovered to reduce some of the liquid.
- When rice cooker beeps carefully open lid and stir polenta. It should be thick and creamy. Add plant milk, ½ cup vegan Parmesan cheese and dried parsley and stir to mix thoroughly.
- Cover and leave rice cooker on keep warm setting until zucchini mixture is done.
Serving
- Place 3-4 ladles full of polenta into 4-5 pasta bowls.
- Use a large slotted spoon to top each serving with 3-4 spoonsful of zucchini mixture.
- Sprinkle with additional vegan Parmesan cheese and sea salt and ground black pepper to taste.
Note: I do not include nutrition information with my recipes because I subscribe to the theories presented in the book Whole and believe we should focus on eating a variety of whole foods instead of counting calories or keeping track of individual nutrients.
Crystal
Just made this for dinner and it was amazing!
Margaret
Thank you Crystal - I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Funny coincidence - I'm working on an eggplant version I plan to share tomorrow!
Ash
Made this for dinner, it was so good! The rice cooker was really helpful since I've never made polenta before. Everyone loved it, and I'm definitely going to make this again.
Margaret
So glad you enjoyed it! The rice cooker makes it easy! 🙂