Polenta fries are gorgeous golden snacks, perfect for any party or as a side dish. This healthy snack is easy to make and it’s a wonderful alternative to the real fries. Crisp and creamy, they are perfect for any day, any time.
This recipe is for those who find polenta a little boring and for those who love French fries but think they are too greasy. Try these unordinary polenta fries. They are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. You will love it.
Enjoy the polenta in a whole new way. Polenta fries are a perfect snack and also great as a side dish. Following this recipe, you will make about 50-70 polenta fries. It all depends how thick you cut it. But remember, the “fries” don’t need to be all perfectly the same. In fact, cutting them in different lengths and thickness will make them look more real and homemade.
Also, check these lovely polenta recipes, too: polenta with sagadin goulash or creamy polenta with chorizo. Yummy.
Ingredients for polenta fries:
- 300 g polenta
- 600 ml water
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Ingredients for the salad:
- ½ red bell pepper
- 100 g bacon (cubes)
- 1 spring onion
- 1 Tbsp of honey
- 2 Tbsp of vinegar (fruity one)
- 3 handfuls of lamb’s lettuce
- salt and pepper
Cook the polenta like you would normally do. Boil the water, add the polenta and whisk until it gets thick. Be careful to not get burned when the polenta starts making big, volcano-like, splashes. Don’t forget to season with salt and pepper. Once it gets difficult to whisk and the consistency looks really compact, the polenta is ready.
Prepare a baking dish; better pick one with higher edges (3-5 cm) and a square shape. Cover the baking dish with baking paper and grease it with some oil. Put all the polenta in, pressing it to the edges into an even layer. Use a spatula to make a smooth top. And a quick tip; wet the spatula and the polenta will not stick to it.
Nice, now the polenta is in the square “mold”. Leave it to completely cool down. In the meantime, you can prepare the salad. I think a nice fresh salad goes perfectly with polenta fries.
Wash the lamb’s lettuce, clean and cut the bell pepper and chop the spring onion. Put everything in a salad bowl. Prepare the dressing with mixing olive oil, honey and vinegar. Add it to the salad only before serving.
Cut the polenta fries
Next prepare two frying pans; one small and a larger one. Once the polenta is cold, quickly flip the baking dish on a cutting board, remove the paper and get ready to cut. Cut the polenta into 1-2 cm thick slices and cut them into smaller, French fries lookalike, sticks. Try to make different lengths. Like that the sticks won’t look industrial but homemade.
With a small brush spread some olive oil over the polenta fries. And that’s all olive oil you need. Once the pan gets hot, place in only a part of the sticks. In order to prevent the polenta fries to stick together, try not to fry all the sticks at once. Fry them for 2 minutes on each side until golden and crispy. You can keep the already made polenta fries in a warm oven (about 50ºC).
Before the last polenta fries are done, prepare the crispy bacon (optional). I love the crunch in the salad and I think bacon is a great idea for that. Put the bacon cubes in the small pan (no oil needed) and cook until it releases its fat and gets crispy.
Serve the polenta fries with the fresh salad topped with crispy bacon and sweet honey dressing. You might also serve it with some Aioli dip.
Enjoy!
PS
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