Polenta Pie

Since my boyfriend adores anything with a lot of tomato sauce and cheese I thought I'd give this recipe a shot since finding it at Epicurious. I had some store-bought polenta (from Trader Joes) hanging around and thought this would be a good time to use it. I don't particularly find the taste of store-bought polenta that good so it might be better to make some homemade polenta next time.

You can find the recipe for it here.

Instead of using a jar of tomato sauce for this recipe (I had none), I decided to make some all-purpose tomato sauce that's quite easy to make. It makes for a good dipping sauce for breadsticks as well.

All-Purpose Tomato Sauce
(from Cooks Illustrated)

1 large garlic clove, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
28 ounce can whole tomatoes, chopped/crushed and juice reserved
Table salt and ground black pepper to taste
2-3 fresh basil leaves, shredded or 1/2 tsp dried

In a large saucepan, warm garlic in 2 tablespoons oil over low heat until soft, but not colored. Stir in tomato paste, then the tomatoes and their liquid. Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 25 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper; before serving, stir in basil and remaining tablespoon oil.