Yellow Dinner
(with optional bright green chives, for contrast!)

There are times, like this rainy-gray fall day, when the simplicity of a monochromatic one-plate meal is just right.

Consider a poached farm egg–so pure—
nestled a top a mound of creamy polenta.
Now, spoon on some roasted yellow pepper sauce
for sweetness.
Then, sprinkle shreds of parmesan
for bite.

Grab your spoon, to scoop up all the comfort.
Get a blanket and huddle on the couch with your dinner bowl,
grateful that you are warm inside.

It’s the sauce that unifies this dish, bringing that caramel-vegetal
balance to the protein and the carb.

I roasted the sweet bell peppers in much the same way that I roast
tomatoes—brushed with olive oil, dusted with sea salt. I used yellow bell peppers—that’s what I grew—but you can use sweet red or orange bell peppers too.

Here, I included hunks of onion, a few garlic cloves, a handful of sungold cherry tomatoes, and one overripe “Mr. Stripey” yellow tomato–all which caramelized in harmony with the peppers.

Post-peeling, all the mixture needs is a puree in the food processor.
If you want to make it super-rich, puree this with heavy cream.
Whoa!
That added dairy is unnecessary, however.

While this dish has full flavors and richness, it does not have a lot of fat.

The polenta, seasoned simply with salt and black pepper, is boiled in water to desired thickness. (follow the directions on the bag or box–typically it’s a ratio of 1 to 3, corn meal to water.

The peppers are roasted in olive oil. The eggs are soft-poached. (so that the runny yolk will get sopped up by the polenta.)

A few nut-like shards of parmegiano-regianno are the only dairy.

The whole ensemble is divine.

Roasted Sweet Yellow Pepper Sauce
2 large ripe Yellow Bell Peppers
1 ripe Yellow Tomato
1/2 large Yellow Onion
2-3 cloves of Garlic
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Cut peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds and pod. Place onto baking sheetpan, top up.
Core tomato, cut in half. Place on baking sheetpan.
Cut onion into medium sized hunks. Place among, and underneath the peppers. Place garlic cloves under the peppers as well.
Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place in oven to roast for 20-25 minutes: skins will blacken and blister.
Allow to cool, and remove peels. (they should slip right off.)
Puree in a food processor fitted with the swivel blade.

1. Ben Frank from I Ate That! Says:
   October 6th, 2009 at 4:32 pm

   that looks amazing. perfect meal for days like today. i’m off to find fresh eggs…

2. Madeleine Says:
   October 7th, 2009 at 2:01 pm

   Can’t wait to make this! It looks so comforting.

3. teresa bentley Says:
   October 14th, 2009 at 10:19 am

   Great read and look; one tip, I often do the roasted veggies the same way but rather than peel anything, I just put thru food mill on med hole size. Garlic, onion, tomatoes peppers all clean up well and this makes a great pasta sauce as well. In winter when tomatoes are sad, I use Romas and red peppers with garlic onion, olive oil, sea salt and pepper, roast and “mill” Too easy. Thanks for lovely chat, pix and recipes.

4. goodfoodmatters Says:
   October 14th, 2009 at 11:20 am

   Great tip, Teresa. I will have to try the mill! Thanks-

5. allen Says:
   October 21st, 2009 at 7:05 am

   Delicious combination—-I forget about making meals with polenta, and I like it so much. Thanks!

6. Christian Says:
   November 1st, 2009 at 8:14 pm

   Delicious! I made it for dinner right after reading. Hit the spot!

7. denise (chez danisse) Says:
   November 16th, 2009 at 3:46 pm

   YUM! I’ve made several variations of polenta + eggs, but I’ve never added a nice sweet pepper sauce. It looks wonderful and includes many tastes I love. Thank you!