Zucchini Polenta Marinara

Ingredients:

• One 16- or 24-ounce tube of polenta*
• 2 large zucchini, sliced into 1/4”-thick rounds
• 14.5 ounces (1.5 cups) low-sugar marinara sauce
• 5 ounces (1.25 cups) grated reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
• Optional: Fresh or dried basil

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Spray a 9”x13” pan with nonstick spray.
• Cut the polenta into 1/4” thick slices.  Arrange the polenta slices in a single layer in the prepared pan.*
• Arrange the zucchini slices over the polenta.
• Pour the marinara sauce evenly over the zucchini.  Use a rubber/silicone spoonula to spread the sauce over all of the zucchini if you need to.
• Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top of the entire dish.
• Cover the pan with tin foil, and bake for 10 minutes.
• Remove the tin foil, and bake for 5-10 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
• Let stand 5 minutes, then cut into slices and serve warm.
• If desired, you can garnish individual servings with a dash of fresh basil chiffonade, or a pinch of dried basil.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutritional information per serving: 125 calories, 3 g fat, 18 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3.5 g sugar, 7.5 g protein.

The final dish.

The first serving.

A few notes:

• If you can’t find the exact size tube of polenta that I used, just get close – the recipe will be fine even if you don’t use the same exact quantity of polenta that I did.
• When I cut my polenta into slices, I ended up with around 24 pieces.  You may end up with a few more or a few less; whatever quantity you have will work just fine.  Also, don’t worry if some of the slices break apart – no one will ever know.
• When you are putting the polenta slices in the pan, if you have to double-up a few slices (i.e., you don’t end up with a “pure” single layer of polenta), that’s okay.  And if you need to break apart a few polenta slices into small pieces so that you can plug some “holes”, that’s fine, too.

The ratings:
Mental Cost (ingredient availability): Low.
Financial Cost (ingredient cost): Low.
Emotional Cost (cooking skill level): Low.
Time Cost (recipe preparation): Hands-on time is low; but total time is nudging medium.
Life Cost (clean up time/effort): Low.
Worth It? (rate from 1-5): 4.9399

Miscellaneous suggestions, insights, and/or thoughts:

• I liked the dish both with and without the basil.  If I had some basil laying around, I would certainly add it to this meal; but I wouldn’t buy basil specifically for this recipe.
• I added soy crumbles to an individual serving of the dish (to increase the protein content of the meal), and that tasted quite good, too.
• The zucchini in this dish attained the ideal level of “doneness” – it was tender, yet still had a nice ‘bite’ to it.  A perfect al-dente quality.
• The flavors of this dish were nice and clean – yet the meal was still hearty and filling.  Quite satisfying.

Stef