Roasted Tomato Caprese on Parmesan Polenta Fries

I'm not a big fan of caprese but I thought caprese with roasted tomato sounds tasteful. Instead of using pre-made polenta log as the recipe does, I substituted it with a recipe for Parmesan Polenta Fries. I was so proud of how these came out - they were truly delicious! Roasting the tomatoes adds so much flavor, and stacking everything on top of the polenta makes for a beautiful presentation. Not to forget the yummy-licious garlic mayo dip! This is the way Adrian describes it "it reminds me of fast foods - it gives the same kind of guilty pleasure of eating fast food except it's not sinful". That should summarize how delicious this is.

Polenta Crust

• 1/2 cup uncooked polenta
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 cups of milk
• juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup of chopped herb of your choice (I used fresh basil, thyme and oregano)
• salt and pepper
• 2 oz. butter (optional)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)

1. In a saucepan, bring water and milk to a boil. Stir in polenta and reduce heat to low. Let cook while stirring constantly.
2. Add lemon juice and zest, herbs, butter and Parmesan.
   
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Line a 8x8" baking pan with parchment paper. Layer polenta mixture evenly over the bottom. Let cool for about 5 minutes and transfer to freezer for at least two hours (I left it overnight).

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Take the pan out from the freezer and remove the parchment paper. You can either cut polenta into 1.5" strips (like fries) or into 4 squares (as I did).

1. Lay parchment paper over a baking sheet. Place the polenta strips or squares on the sheet and brush with melted butter.
2. Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown, turn once and continue to bake. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with a little salt & pepper.

Garlic Mayo Spread:

• 1/4 c. Japanese mayonnaise
• 1 garlic glove, minced
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• dash of Tabasco sauce and Tonkatsu
  
• salt and pepper
• Herbs (optional. I used spring onion, thyme, oregano and parsley)
  

Mix all ingredients and serve as dipping for fries or spread over Polenta squares as you would for burger or sandwiches.

For the Caprese:

• 1 large roma tomatoes, sliced
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• sea salt and pepper
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
  
• 4-5 fresh basil leaves
  

1. Arrange tomato slices in one single layer on a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with the garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper. Roast for 1 hour until the tomatoes are concentrated and begin to caramelize. Allow the tomatoes to cool to room temperature.
2. Place polenta squares onto plates. Spread garlic mayo over the top and stack each squares with tomato slices, fresh mozzarella and basil leaves. Serve at room temperature.