Fried polenta stacks with squash & cashew cream

Fried polenta stacked with delicata squash glazed with barbecue sauce, and cashew cream.

5 from 9 votes

Fried polenta stacks with squash & cashew cream

Delight your dinner guests with this striking appetizer or entree. With layers of polenta, barbecued squash, and cashew cream, there's a variety of textures and flavors in every bite.

Save time & effort by using store-bought polenta in a tube.

Prep Time20

Cook Time25

Total Time45

Course: Entree

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: fall food, holiday food, thanksgiving recipe

Servings: people

Calories: 312kcal

Author: Cadry Nelson

Ingredients

For cashew cream

1 cup raw cashew pieces
½ cup water + additional for soaking if needed
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
½ teaspoon white miso paste
1 small garlic clove
¼ teaspoon salt

For BBQ delicata squash

1 medium-sized delicata squash about 11 ounces
½ teaspoon avocado oil or your preferred oil
Generous ½ cup vegan barbecue sauce

For polenta stacks

18 ounces prepared polenta in tube
Avocado oil or other high heat oil, for frying
Pinch of salt
¼ cup pepitas roasted & salted
4 small rosemary sprigs optional

Instructions

To make cashew cream

In a high-speed blender, combine raw cashews, water, nutritional yeast flakes, white miso paste, garlic, and salt.
Blend until smooth and creamy, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides as needed.
(Don't have a high-speed blender? See recipe notes for workarounds.)
Refrigerate the cashew cream until you're ready to assemble the polenta stacks. It will continue to thicken in the refrigerator.
(If you're doing holiday prep, the cashew cream can be made about 3 days in advance.)

To make BBQ delicata squash

Preheat oven to 420 degrees. Line one large baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
Use a chef's knife to cut the delicata squash into roughly ¼ inch thick rounds.
Then use your fingers to remove the seeds from the center of the rounds.
Lay the delicata squash rounds onto the baking sheet. Drizzle with ½ teaspoon of oil & toss until evenly combined.
Spread the slices evenly across the sheet. Make sure they don’t touch and aren’t overcrowded.
Roast the delicata squash for 12 minutes.
Remove the squash from oven and flip the squash slices with a spatula. Then brush a generous amount of barbecue sauce onto each slice.
Roast for another 8 minutes until fully browned and done. Remove from oven and set aside.

To make the polenta stacks

While the squash is roasting, remove polenta from its plastic casing. Blot it dry on a clean kitchen towel.
Cut it into roughly ½ inch circles.
Bring a large non-stick skillet to a medium-high heat with a shallow layer of avocado oil across the bottom.
Put a small bit of polenta into the oil to check if the oil is ready. If bubbles immediately surround the polenta, it is ready.
(If the oil isn't hot enough, the polenta will stick to the pan & won't fry as nicely.)
Put several polenta circles into the oil. (Be careful not to overcrowd the skillet and cook in batches if necessary.) Shallow fry each side for about 3 minutes, until crispy.
Once fried, move the polenta circles onto a separate plate, and sprinkle with salt. (You can layer the plate with paper towels first, but be aware that the polenta may stick.)
Continue until all of the polenta circles have fried. (Add more oil to the skillet, if needed.)
Now it's time to make each stack.
First, lay one polenta circle on a plate.
Top with one or two circles of barbecue sauce-glazed delicata squash.
Then top with a generous dollop of cashew cream.
Top with another polenta circle, one or two circles of barbecue sauce-glazed butternut squash, and finish with another dollop of cashew cream.
Garnish each stack with a sprinkling of pepitas and a small sprig of fresh rosemary (if using).
Continue until all of the stacks are completed. Serve right away.

Notes

If you don't have a high-speed blender, you'll need to help your blender with the raw cashews.

Use one of the following methods:

Grind dry raw cashews in a clean coffee grinder until they have the texture of flour. Then add to the blender with the remaining cashew cream ingredients.
Soak raw cashews in water for four hours. Then drain and add to blender.
Boil raw cashews in water for about 15 minutes. Then drain and add to blender.

You will likely have more cashew cream than you need for this recipe. However, too small of a batch is difficult to blend, because the ingredients fall below the blade.

Use any leftover cashew cream as a chip dip, baked potato topping, creamy addition to mashed potatoes, or to make soup creamy.

Storage & reheating instructions

Store leftover stacks in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will keep 3 or 4 days.

Reheat in the microwave until fully warmed.

The nutritional information doesn't include the oil used in frying, as the amount & absorption will vary.

Nutrition