Polenta-Stuffed Poblano Peppers

I love to reminisce about one of the first dishes Seamus ever cooked for me: stuffed peppers. I had never really had stuffed peppers before that, but now whenever I see a recipe of them, I feel inclined to try it. This recipe in particular caught my eye because of the use of polenta and goat cheese, changing this dish that I typically think of as Mexican into sort of an American/Italian fusion.

Instead of using polenta, I used quick cooking grits and they worked perfectly. They didn't have poblano peppers at the grocery store, so we used regular green bell peppers. I would like to try this dish with poblanos to get the extra kick into the dish without having to add tabasco!

Polenta-Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Courtesy of Real Simple at http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/polenta-stuffed-poblano-peppers-00000000012500/index.html

Ingredients

• 4 plum tomatoes, halved
• 1 red onion, cut into wedges
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 poblano peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• kosher salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup instant polenta
• 1 10-ounce package frozen corn
• 1/4 cup soft goat cheese (2 ounces)
• 4 scallions, sliced

Directions

1. Heat broiler. On a rimmed broilerproof baking sheet, toss the tomatoes, onion, and oil; turn the tomatoes cut-side down. Add the peppers, cut-side down.
2. Broil until tender and charred, stirring the onions and turning the tomatoes and peppers halfway through, 5 to 8 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 400° F. In a food processor, puree the tomatoes, onion, cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper until smooth. Spread half the sauce in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange the peppers in the dish, cut-side up.
4. In a medium saucepan, bring 2 ¼ cups water to a boil. Add ½ teaspoon salt. Gradually whisk in the polenta. Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the corn, cheese, and all but 2 tablespoons of the scallions.
5. Divide the polenta among peppers. Top with the remaining sauce and bake until heated through, 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining scallions before serving.