Polenta cakes with tomato bacon jam are a great entree, side dish, or even appetizer. Creamy polenta is flavored with parmesan, then pan fried in olive oil till slightly crispy on the outside. This dish is then topped off with a sweet and salty tomato bacon jam and extra parmesan cheese!
I love polenta because it is such a versatile dish. It can be served hot, with fruit or honey as a breakfast dish. It can also be served chilled and topped with vegetables or a savory sauce for a side dish along with meat or pasta.
Serve these polenta cakes with Italian beef braciole, cast iron roast chicken or Italian celery salad.
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🧀 Ingredient notes
- Polenta - Polenta is an Italian dish that is made from ground corn meal. It's similar to grits but is made with yellow cornmeal as opposed to white corn meal. Some grocery stores will sell prepared polenta in a tube that can be sliced and fried for a recipe like this. I like making mine from scratch as it doesn't take too much effort and ground cornmeal is typically easier to locate than premade polenta.
- Tomato Bacon Jam - This sauce is killer. Fresh tomatoes are cooked down with crispy bacon and seasoning to create a both sweet and savory jam that can be used for many dishes. This jam would be great on a charcuterie board or on fish or chicken, however it pairs extremely well with these crispy polenta cakes.
📋 Substitutions and variations
- Vegetarian - Polenta cakes can be made with vegetable broth and without tomato bacon to make this dish vegetarian.
- Gluten free - Make sure to use cornmeal that is gluten free to ensure this dish is gluten free.
- Served warm - Instead of chilling the polenta, serve it warm with the tomato bacon jam and shredded parmesan cheese on top.
🔪 Step by step instructions
First, heat broth up in a large pot until it boils. Slowly pour in the cornmeal while whisking until it is completely combined into the broth.
Lower the heat and continue to cook while whisking until the polenta has thickened. Remove from the heat and whisk in the parmesan cheese, pepper, and salt.
Allow the polenta to cool for about 10 minutes and then pour it into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Lay a piece of plastic wrap right on top of the polenta and then place it in the fridge to chill for a minimum of 1 hour.
While polenta is chilling, the tomato bacon jam can be prepared. Dice the bacon and onions into small pieces and mince the garlic. Cook the bacon and onions in a large pot for about 15 minutes until the onions are softened and the bacon just starts to get crispy.
Add in the tomatoes, garlic, and seasonings and stir to combine. Allow the mixture to cook over low heat for about 45 minutes until it's thickened and reduced.
When the polenta is chilled, cut it into circles or squares using a cookie cutter, glass, or knife.
Cook the polenta cakes in a non-stick pan with olive oil for about 2-3 minutes on each side until browned and lightly crispy.
Top polenta cakes with tomato bacon jam and extra parmesan cheese if desired!
If you ever don't recognize a tool or skill that I mention, be sure to look it up in the Glossary of Cooking Terms and Definitions for more information.
⭐ Expert tips
- Constantly whisk the polenta as you are pouring it into the broth so that it doesn't clump together.
- Cook the polenta until it's thickened and creamy, while whisking continuously.
- Make sure to allow the polenta cakes to chill completely before cutting them out and frying them. A minimum of 1 hour is required, however 4 hours over even overnight will make it easier to cut and fry them without them falling apart.
- Stir the mixture and mash down the tomatoes occasionally to help the tomatoes break down and incorporate into the tomato bacon jam.
- Cook the polenta cakes in a non stick pan to ensure they don't stick while frying.
⏲️ Make ahead and storage instructions
- Polenta - Polenta can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and stored in fridge covered in plastic wrap. When you are ready to serve, cut the polenta in circles or squares and fry in a non-stick pan as instructed.
- Tomato Bacon Jam - Tomato bacon jam can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and stored in the fridge in an air tight container. Re-heat the jam in a pot on the stovetop or in the microwave and serve over polenta cakes.
🍝 More Italian recipes
If you loved this recipe for polenta cakes, check out these other Italian recipes that I know you will love.
- Italian Flatbread Pizza
- Baked No Fry Eggplant Parmesan
- Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
- Creamy Mushroom Risotto
📖 Recipe
Polenta Cakes with Tomato Bacon Jam
Ingredients
Polenta Cakes
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup ground yellow cornmeal
- ½ cup parmesan cheese plus extra for serving
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Tomato Bacon Jam
- 12 ounces bacon
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 20 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Polenta Cakes
- Heat broth in a large pot over medium-high heat on the stovetop and grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with baking spray or olive oil.
- When the broth starts to boil, slowly pour in the cornmeal while whisking continuously until it is completely combined.
- Bring the mixture back to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Continue to cook while whisking until the mixture thickens, approximately 3-5 minutes.
- Remove the pot off of the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese, pepper, and salt.
- Allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes and then pour it into the prepared baking dish. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the polenta and place it in the refrigerator to chill for a minimum of 1 hour while you make the tomato bacon jam.
Tomato Bacon Jam
- While polenta is chilling, dice bacon and onions into small pieces and mince garlic.
- Heat a medium pot or skillet over medium heat on the stovetop and add bacon and onions. Cook onions and bacon, while stirring frequently until the onions are softened and bacon starts to become crispy, approximately 15 minutes.
- Add in remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Lower the heat and allow the mixture to cook for about 45 minutes until reduced and thickened. While the mixture is cooking, stir it occasionally and mash the tomatoes down as they softened to help them combine with the other ingredients.
- When the polenta is completely chilled, using a cookie cutter, glass, or knife, cut into smaller circles or squares.
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat on the stovetop and add olive oil. Working with 2-3 pieces at a time, cook polenta cakes in the pan for 2-3 minutes on each side till browned and lightly crispy.
- Serve polenta cakes with extra parmesan cheese and tomato bacon jam.
Notes
- Constantly whisk the polenta as you are pouring it into the broth so that it doesn't clump together.
- Cook the polenta until it's thickened and creamy, while whisking continuously.
- Make sure to allow the polenta cakes to chill completely before cutting them out and frying them. A minimum of 1 hour is required, however 4 hours over even overnight will make it easier to cut and fry them without them falling apart.
- Stir the mixture and mash down the tomatoes occasionally to help the tomatoes break down and incorporate into the tomato bacon jam.
- Cook the polenta cakes in a non stick pan to ensure they don't stick while frying.
Substitutions and Variations
- Pre-made Polenta - Pre-made polenta can be bought, cut and fried instead of making polenta from scratch.
- Vegetarian - Polenta cakes can be made with vegetable broth and without tomato bacon to make this dish vegetarian.
- Gluten free - Make sure to use cornmeal that is gluten free to ensure this dish is gluten free.
- Served warm - Instead of chilling the polenta, serve it warm with the tomato bacon jam and shredded parmesan cheese on top.
Make Ahead and Storage Suggestions
- Polenta - Polenta can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and stored in fridge covered in plastic wrap. When you are ready to serve, cut the polenta in circles or squares and fry in a non-stick pan as instructed above.
- Tomato Bacon Jam - Tomato bacon jam can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and stored in the fridge in an air tight container. Re-heat the jam in a pot on the stovetop or in the microwave and serve over polenta cakes.
Brad The Gay Gay
5-Stars with a caveat! The bacon tomato jam was off the chart delicious, I added extra brown sugar to sweeten it up, but that probably wasn't necessary.
My problem was with the polenta. I have only eaten it once or twice in my life, and have never cooked it so I followed the recipe exactly and thank g-d for the internet so I could figure out how to fix it!
For starters, every other recipe I found for polenta had a ratio of liquid to cornmeal of 3:1 or 4:1, this recipe called for 5:1. Second, it stated to cook it for 3-5 minutes, when it probably should have been 30-50 minutes. And finally, trying to pour that little polenta into a 9x13 pan made for the thickness of a corn tortilla, not a luscious, creamy, smooth fried polenta cake. Next time I will use an 8x8 pan.
Back to the Bacon Jam... Holy Tomatoes Batman, people will think you are a gourmet chef with this simple recipe. You will instantly become more beautiful and your sex life will improve! I bet you will receive a letter from the IRS saying you have a large tax refund coming and probably win the lottery! It's that good!
I cooked it in an 8" pot. Next time I will do it larger pot or pan. It took a long time to crisp up the bacon - even on high heat. Other than adding more brown sugar, I followed the recipe exactly, After about 45 minutes it was perfect. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn the stove off and it kept cooking for another hour - still great!
For the amount of polenta in the recipe you probably only need half this amount of jam. A better idea? Make twice as much polenta!
Amanda
Hey Brad! Thanks so much for your feedback, I'm sorry the polenta didn't turn out the way you expected. I'm glad you loved the tomato bacon jam and in my opinion, more polenta is ALWAYS a good idea 🙂
Susan M
Yeah, agree this recipe is off, especially if you look at other recipes for polenta medallions. Absolutely needs to cook for longer, needs to sit in the fridge for *much* longer, etc. I’m not sure I can save this and should have researched other recipes instead of using just this one. Sad I put a lot of time into this already and not sure it’s going to amount to anything close to what it should be.
Amanda
Hey Susan - I'm sorry to hear that it didn't quite work out for you. I have made it a few times likes this and haven't had an issue, but I'm going to take this one back to the testing kitchen and see if we can't find some ways to help improve it so some of you don't have problems with it.
Chef Dennis
Yum! I am really excited to taste this! The tomato bacon jam looks yummy.
Amanda
Thank you, the tomato bacon jam is the best part!
Agnieszka
This is such a great appetizer! I love polenta!
Amanda
Thank you!
Rob
This looks delicious! Can't wait to try it!
Amanda
Thanks! Let me know how it goes!
Michelle | Taste As You Go
These are always a hit in our house! The kids gobble them up faster than the adults!
Amanda
Same at our house!
Angela
The polenta cake recipe is delicious and the tomato and bacon jam is wonderful with it.
Amanda
Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Audrey
These are so tasty!
Amanda
Thank you so much!
Jeri
Such great flavor! We loved the bacon jam too!
Amanda
Thank you, it's my favorite part too!
Kristina
Awesome- my family loved!
Amanda
That's great, thank you!