tomato, mozzarella, & polenta skewers

I went to a picnic for my friend's birthday two weeks ago, so I decided to make a portable picnic-y food. I love caprese salad in the summer, but it's not too much of a finger food. Once you bring toothpicks into the picture, things get a little easier. I made polenta cubes to make these skewers a bit more substantial and assembled everything the morning of. They packed up easily and made a great single-serve food. Try them out for your next soirée!

Tomato, Mozzarella, & Polenta Skewers: makes approximately 25 skewers

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh basil

1/2 cup fresh mozzarella

3/4 cups cornmeal*

3 cups water

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp salt

olive oil, for coating

toothpicks

*I made 2x the amount of polenta I actually needed so I halved the recipe here. If you would like to have leftover polenta for ~snacks~, simply double the cornmeal, butter, parmesan, and water measurements.

In a large saucepan, bring 3 cups of salted water to a boil. Add the cornmeal and stir continually. Once it begins to thicken, add in butter, parmesan, and salt. Continue stirring until it takes on the consistency of a thick porridge. It should slightly be peeling away from the sides of the pan. It takes approximately 15 minutes. And now you have polenta. Spread the polenta onto a greased baking sheet so it's about 1-inch thick. Cover with waxed paper and smooth it out. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. I did it overnight.

Once you're ready to assemble the skewers, remove the polenta from the fridge and cut into 1-inch squares. Coat in olive oil and arrange on a baking sheet. Broil for about 15 minutes on each side, until crispy. Sprinkle with some more salt, if that's your thing.

Arrange skewers so they each have 1/2 cherry tomato, a cube of mozzarella, a basil leaf, and a polenta cube. Get crazy.

Pack up and enjoy! Or just eat in your kitchen. Or wherever. The possibilities are endless.