I ate polenta for the first time when I was 20. It is not a traditional dish from Slovakia, where I come from. I tried it, liked it and forgot about it.
Only when I had my child I learned it is a great first baby food as I didn’t want to serve her instant cereals. Instant cereals have the lowest nutritional value from all the grains. You can read more about the first baby food in my eBook How To Raise a Veggie Lover (And We Should…)
Polenta is perfect to be one of the first cereals served to your baby. It tastes very nice and can be prepared in a sweet or savory variation.
At the later stage when you start to combine different kinds of food, polenta is fantastic with any vegetables. To prepare easy-to-digest food I do recommend combining it with veggies only.
Vegetables:
Polenta:
You can prepare the polenta while the vegetables are cooking. Place the polenta in a pot and add water/vegetable stock. Bring it to boil and stir frequently. When boiling add the cheese. Continue stirring until the polenta gets the right texture. After a while, the polenta will thicken, and pulling away from the side of the saucepan slightly. It's close to being done at this point.
Divide the polenta into an oil sprayed muffin tin. Top it with cooked vegetables and some extra shredded cheese.
Preheat the oven to 170°C and bake the mini polenta cakes for approx 20 min.
Let it cool down a bit before serving. The polenta mini cakes come out easier from the tin.
If you would like to prepare this recipe for your baby, use only the vegetables & herbs, which have been already introduced. I would recommend skipping the eggplant for babies younger than 12 months and use tomatoes only if your baby has been exposed to them already.