Balsamic roasted tomatoes over polenta

I started to reach a point of vegetable saturation recently, and it was having the net effect of making me uninterested in cooking or processing any of the food at all. I knew it had to be done, but for whatever reason, was digging in my heels.

The refrigerator was full to the brim with food I had no time to prepare. Any time a friend came over and looked in there, they made a puzzled comment or three. My counter was overflowing with, among other things, yellow pear tomatoes, and I had this dilemma: What to do with them that wouldn’t take very long and would be absolutely non-taxing, but would still show them off in their best light?

I thought back to a comment Sara of Farming Friends posted on my Picked on the Fourth of July post earlier this summer: She had suggested roasting tomatoes with balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, which sounded so delicious that, although I haven’t made the recipe yet, I’ve thought about it an awful lot.

I had some prepared polenta in the refrigerator, and decided roasting the tomatoes would accomplish all my goals: use up some of my burgeoning produce stock while requiring a minimal investment of energy on cooking.

I roasted up the tomatoes, fried up the polenta, topped one with the other, added some Parmesan, and voila (or woo-lah, as one of my former newspaper editors used to say…), I had dinner. It was satisfying, it was delicious, and it boosted the blah flavor of the yellow pears. Here’s to keeping things less-than-complicated.

Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes over Polenta
(Serves 3-4)

Four cups yellow pear or cherry tomatoes
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar (use the good stuff for this one, because the flavor will concentrate)
Salt and pepper
Tube of prepared polenta
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Shredded parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the tomatoes in a ovenproof pan and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat.
2. Roast the tomatoes for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are puffy and starting to get juicy and the balsamic vinegar is starting to look thick and caramel-like in the pan.
3. Meanwhile, slice the polenta into eight equal rounds. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan, swirl so it covers the bottom, and cook the polenta rounds approximately 7-9 minutes per side, or until they are brown and slightly crispy.
4. Serve the tomatoes over the polenta. Top with a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

This is my contribution for Weekend Herb Blogging, which is hosted this week by Scott at Real Epicurean. Stop by Scott’s place for the full round-up later this weekend.