It Looks Like Pizza, But . . .

it doesn't act like it at all. I wanted to make pizza and thought I would make dough for a crust, but, short on time, I decided to try a polenta "crust" instead. It didn't get crispy, though, so, while it wasn't bad at all, it really wasn't a pizza. It was polenta with tomato sauce, meatballs and cheese, which is also very good.

I used quick-cooking polenta, 1/2 cup to 2 1/4 cups water, bringing the water to a boil then whisking in the polenta and bubbling for about 5 minutes, stirring the whole time. Then I added salt, pepper and oregano and spread it in a 9-inch springform pan and put it in the freezer to cool.

Warmed up and sliced meatballs and shredded cheese while that was cooling, then removed the sides of the springform pan from the polenta and spread tomato sauce over the solidified polenta, arranged sliced meatballs and roasted red pepper and sprinkled with Parmesan, mozzarella and oregano. Baked it in 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes (probably could have used a bit more time, if I had added cheese at the end) on a rack near the bottom, then sliced it like a pizza to eat.