Eggs Diablo on Polenta

I intended to make chicken tonight, but when I went into the kitchen to start dinner, the chicken was still completely frozen. I decided it could wait until tomorrow and I would try something different. It's kind of fun to find a recipe at the last minute that you can make with ingredients that you have on hand. It could be a stressful task, but luckily I keep my pantry stocked. I've been meaning to make polenta for a while, so when I came across a recipe, I figured it would be a good time to try it out.

Eggs Diablo on Polenta (adapted from Karina's Kitchen)

Eggs Diablo

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1/2 can diced tomatoes

1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chiles

1 tsp Italian herb blend

2 eggs

Polenta

1 1/2 cups chicken or veggie broth

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

To get the diablo sauce started, heat oil over medium heat in pan. Cook onion in oil until it's tender. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook for 1 min. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chiles, and herbs and let simmer on medium-low while you prepare the polenta. When the polenta is almost done, crack the eggs into the sauce, cover, and let the eggs poach until they are cooked through (about 6 min).

In a separate pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil and slowly add the cornmeal, whisking continuously. Continue to whisk constantly until the polenta starts to pull away from the sides and the bottom of the pot. The coarseness of the cornmeal will determine how long it takes - I used medium-grind stone-ground cornmeal and it took about 20 min. When it's done, whisk in salt and cheese. Serve the eggs and sauce on top of the polenta. Serves 2.

This was super tasty. I love polenta, eggs, and tomato sauce, so I knew this would be a winner. And I hadn't had a poached egg in a long time, so that was a nice change of pace. On top of that, I got a great workout at the same time! This would have been a lot easier to make if I had someone else to help me, but I had the sauce simmering before I started the polenta (and had everything else that I would need measured out ahead of time), so it worked. Be prepared to have two extremely tired arms at the end (especially if you're using a coarse-grind cornmeal). Just don't take more than a very short break from whisking it or it will burn. So if you don't have time to get a workout and make dinner, this is the perfect solution.