KristinaI 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 – first baby cereal
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.
Mini polenta cakes with vegetables
Ingredients
- 100 g polenta
- 400-500 g water or vegetable broth
- 60 g Pecorino cheese shredded + some extra for topping
- -------
- 1 tbsp olive oil/ghee
- 2-inches of leek
- 1 clove garlic pressed
- 1/2 eggplant
- 1/3 zucchini (courgette)
- vegetable stock (or water + vegetable stock powder)
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- 100 g tomato sauce
- Herbs of your liking (I used herbs de Provence & marjoram)
Instructions
Vegetables:
- Wash and cut the leek
- Wash and cut the zucchini into cubes
- Wash and cut the eggplant into cubes
- Wash and cut the tomatoes into halves
- Heat up a pan with a spoon of olive oil or ghee
- Add the leek and cook for about a minute
- Add the pressed garlic into the pan together with the eggplant. Cook for about 3 - 5 min stirring constantly
- Add the zucchini and cook for 3 min
- Add vegetable broth and bring it to boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for approx 20 min
- After 20 min you can add chopped tomatoes with tomato sauce. Cook for another 10 min on a lower heat
- It is important that the eggplant is cooked through
- If you have the feeling that there is too much sauce, let it cook a bit longer
- In the last minutes add herbs of your liking
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.
Notes
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.
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