Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Kitchen Life: Turkey and Black Bean Pie with Polenta "Crust"

Art Smith continues to impress me with his knack for unusual takes on common dishes. And polenta always ends up tasting better than I think it will when I make it. This is a fun version of "tamale pie" using ground turkey meat and pre-cooked polenta from one of those tubes you can find in the produce section.

On the other hand, Smith's instructions to layer 1/2 inch thick slices of pre-cooked tube polenta over a 9x13 pan in "overlapping slices" were pure fantasy. One tube just doesn't do it.
1.25 lbs of ground turkey, onion, minced garlic, some diced red bell pepper, chili powder, a can of black beans, 8 oz of tomato sauce, a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chilies, browned in a skillet and then put in a 9x13 baking dish and covered with slices of pre-cooked polenta and 1+ cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese and baked in a 350 F oven for 20 minutes is all it took.

I took a (small) chance and added some ground cinnamon to the skillet while I was cooking the filling and it turned out quite well. Chili and cinnamon powder and black beans seem to go extremely well together. I also served some sour cream and fresh lime wedges for squeezing, but it would have been fine by itself.

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