Baked Cheese Polenta with Swiss Chard

Serves : 6
 

Ingredients:

  • 2 bunches Swiss chard (about 1.5 pounds)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 8 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1 cup grits (preferably stone-ground)
  • 1 generous cup grated cheddar cheese
  • Hot sauce such as Tabasco or Cholula
  • 1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash chard thoroughly. Remove stems and center ribs. Discard the stems, but chop the ribs.Coarsely chop the leaves. Heat olive oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute about 30 seconds. Add the ribs and 2 tablespoons of water (careful!), cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the leaves, cover, and cook about 2 minutes more or until leaves are wilted.

To prepare polenta, bring 4 cups water and the salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Slowly stir in grits. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring frequently until creamy and a bit stiff. (Bubbles will be somewhat large and well-defined at this point.) Remove from heat, add cheeses, and continue to stir constantly with a whisk.

Working quickly, spoon half the polenta into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray, spreading evenly.

Top with the chard mixture. Then add a few dashes of hot sauce evenly over the chard. Spoon sour cream over chard, spreading evenly. Quickly add the remaining polenta, spreading evenly.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.