Chorizo & Polenta

Oof! Packing is tough and time consuming stuff! Everything in my life (blogging, running, thinking) has been abandoned as we've been packing our truck over the last few days. However, with it taking off to our new location today, I am taking a moment to refocus! And part of the refocusing is to finish this post about chorizo & polenta that has been sitting in my queue for a week. Now that our entire kitchen is packed up, I'm missing good home cooked meals like this one. Even though it was a bit of a "use what's in the kitchen" dinner, it was successful. But I mean, let's be honest--when is chorizo not successful?


This was another borrowed recipe from Budget Bytes, but a little more tailored to our needs than normal. However, it was one of those that when we both saw it pop up on Pinterest, we knew it was a "must-make." The picture, the ingredients--everything grabbed us. So it worked out perfectly that chorizo was one of the meats Will bought on our last EarthFare meat coupon, and had stocked up with pre-move. We had the polenta leftover from Asparagus, Poached Eggs, and Polenta and it wasn't exactly something we wanted to move to Virginia; not because it wasn't good, but moreso because we didn't have enough to make it worth moving. Swapping out the grits for the polenta was a fantastic decision. I, for one, am a new and huge fan of polenta. It's got the texture of grits, but without the sudden feeling you get when you've had one bite too many, and the sickening stuffed effect after the fact. Instead, it's a bit lighter and allows you to enjoy the other flavors of what you're eating, just a little more, without overstuffing you. I highly recommend swapping polenta for grits whenever you have the chance, and this is a great recipe to start with!

Cooking Notes: We used polenta (as mentioned) instead of grits. The original recipe also called for poblano peppers, which we skipped on. Everything else was pretty much the same--nice and simple

Chorizo & Polenta (adapted from Budget Bytes; serves 4)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup milk
3 cups water
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 cup polenta
2 tbsp butter
2 links chorizo

Drizzle oil in a medium pot and heat over medium-high. Add the minced garlic, along with milk, water and salt. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat and with a lid on top (careful not to let it spill over!). Once it boils, pour in the polenta while stirring. Return pot to a boil, then turn heat down to medium-low and allow it to continue simmering, with the lid, for 5-7 minutes until thick. Stir in the butter until melted and adjust salt to your liking.

While the polenta is cooking, heat you grill or panini press to cook chorizo. Add the chorizo and cook for 5 minutes, then rotate and cook for 5 more. Slice the chorizo into medallions. Once polenta is done cooking, scoop about a cup into a bowl and top with chorizo medallions.