Using Up Leftover Polenta: Pan-Fried Polenta Cakes

We had a lot of leftovers from Saturday’s celeriac polenta. Lindsay came up with a great idea to use it up: pan-fried polenta cakes for breakfast.

We tried two versions. We went savory with the first batch, to which we added salt, pepper, and smoked Spanish paprika. This really worked. The smoked paprika really came through. We ate it with poached eggs, fresh pepper, and a black finishing salt.

With the second batch we tried to go sweet, adding cinnamon and sugar, and served with maple syrup. Because we were afraid of burning it in the pan, we went light on the sugar. This version was “meh”. The sweet flavors weren’t very strong and were a bit overpowered by the celeriac. I think sweet polenta cakes would normally good bet, but with the celeriac involved I would stick to the savory.

Polenta cakes: left = savory version; right = sweet version.

After plopping the brick of polenta out of its glass tupperware container, we sliced it into strips:

We heated a cast iron pan over medium heat and added the polenta strips. Because we keep it well-seasoned, we didn’t need to add any oil or butter to the pan, although that is an option for additional browning and to keep them from sticking. We then sprinkled the seasoning on top.

We cooked them until they firmed up and don’t stick, then we flipped them and repeated.