Baked Polenta with Vegetable and Beans

Tonight we had the leftover Hunter Style Chicken from last night with a baked polenta which was a combination of 2 recipes.

The first recipe came from La Cucina, The Regional Cooking of Italy cookbook, this week's featured cookbook. It was a recipe called Polenta and Beans which was from the Abruzzo region. The second recipe comes from a blog post on which I found on FoodBuzz. FoodBuzz is like FaceBook for foodies. The post was from Food o'del Mundo. It is a recipe from the Union Square Cafe's Second Helpings cookbook. I used this recipe but added pancetta and onion from the La Cucina recipe.

Polenta Union Square Style

Ingredients
1 Cup Polenta
In place of the water required for the Polenta use 1/2 Chicken Broth & 1/2 Bean Liquid reserved from the can
4 oz. Pancetta
1 Med Onion, chopped
1 Med Carrot peeled and chopped
1 Leek white part only cleaned and chopped
1 Celery Stalk cleaned and chopped
2 Cloves Garlic minced
1 1/2 Cups Cooked/Canned White Beans- Cannellini, Butter/Lima or Northern
1 Bunch Swiss Chard cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 tsp Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Method
Cook Polenta according to package directions. In place of water use 1/2 Chicken Broth & 1/2 Bean Liquid reserved from the can. When Polenta is almost cooked heat a saute pan and cook 4 oz. Pancetta until crispy, remove from pan and chop in to small pieces. Add some olive oil to the same skillet and saute the Onion, Carrot, Leek & Celery over medium heat. Saute for 5 minutes then add Garlic, White Beans and the Swiss Chard. Stir until the Swiss Chard wilts then add Salt and Pepper.
When polenta is cooked stir in the vegetable mixture and the Pancetta and stir to combine thoroughly. Add more Salt & Pepper to taste. Spoon into serving bowl and drizzle with Olive Oil.

We both loved this and understand why it the recipe is from a cookbook called Second Helpings. It was great with the sauce from the chicken.