Cooking with Vera

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup instant polenta
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ stick butter
• 3/4 cup mascarpone & grated parmigiano-reggiano
• 4 slices of thick cut bacon, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 (14-ounces) can diced tomatoes in juice
• 1½ pounds cleaned large shrimp
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Whisk together stock, polenta, and salt in a heavy medium saucepan, then bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, stirring constantly until smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. If mixture starts to tighten and get dry, add more stock (up to 1/2 cup).
Remove from heat and stir in butter. Stir cheese into polenta until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook bacon, garlic, and red pepper flakes in 2 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring, until garlic is pale golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice and simmer until liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt.

Spoon polenta into shallow bowls and top with shrimp mixture. Drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil, season with pepper, and sprinkle with parsley.