Extra crispy, creamy on the inside, and cheesy all around , these Sage Parmesan Baked Polenta Fries are such a pain to make! The easiest part of this recipe is making the instant polenta. The hardest part is turn it into crispy oven-baked polenta fries. It’s an easy recipe but requires time. So I don’t make them often but when I do they disappear fast.
Here is the thing, after adding garlic, parmesan, sage, butter to the creamy cooked polenta, it needs to be spread out in a square baking dish and placed in the freezer until the polenta stiffens up. This doesn’t take long but adds more time (15-20 minutes) while tries my patience.
Then you pull the polenta out of the pan and cut it into fries. No, it’s not that that easy because cutting them evenly is challenging. Stopping my hungry self from eating the corners and edges it’s a torturous task.
Once the polenta is cut into some kind of ‘fries’ shape, you need to toss the fries with olive oil, but you have to do this gently or they may fall apart because now they have been out of the freezer for too long.
Then bake one side until crispy – 15 minutes. Don’t you dare flip them when they are not ready. They will fall apart or still be stuck to the pan. Exercise patient. Flip them over – one by one. 15 more minutes until crispy AF and now you have the most delicious and addicting Sage Parmesan Baked Polenta Fries ever!
A couple of notes:
- Make a double batch. These are laborious and it’s frustrating how fast they go.
- Omit or replace sage with whatever herb(s) your heart desires. I just happened to have a lot of sage in the garden.
Sage Parmesan Baked Polenta Fries
Ingredients
- 1 cup instant/quick polenta
- 2 cups water
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 2 tbsp chopped sage
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
- 2-3 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Slowly whisk in the polenta, garlic ,sage, parmesan, and season with salt and pepper. Stir until the polenta is soft and thick, about 3-5 minutes. Turn the heat off, cover the pot, and let the polenta sit 5 minutes.
- Line an 8×8 square baking dish with parchment paper. Spread the polenta in an even layer in the dish. Freeze 15-20 minutes, until set, or 1 hour in the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 450F. Take the polenta out of the baking dish and cut into thin or thick "fries" shape. Spread some olive oil on a baking sheet. Place the fries on the prepared baking sheet and gently coat them with more olive oil. Spread the fries in an even layer. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then carefully flip. Bake for 15-20 minutes more until crispy.
- Season with salt, some extra parmesan, and sage. Serve with a side of marinara sauce or ketchup. ENJOY!