Recipes are nothing but outlines

Here's one thing to remember: following a recipe exactly is only necessary when baking. If you're making an italian dish or even just a family favorite main course, be inventive! Don't have green olives? Use some capers! Out of noodles? Try rice! No cream of mushroom? What about cream of chicken or celery?

Today I had no idea what to make. I remembered I had some polenta (the kind already molded into a roll) in the refrigerator and so I looked on my favorite website Food Network and found a great one. It was basically fried polenta rounds with a cream cheese mixture and a red sauce on top.

I had to go to the store anyway so I grabbed some basil and cream cheese while I was there. The recipe called for Mascarpone cheese which is pretty expensive, so I kind of made my own with cream cheese, sour cream, and a little drop of milk. When I got home I:

1. Sliced the polenta into rounds--maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick? And basically fried them in olive oil and butter. About 1 tbsp of each, mixed together.
2. I mixed 1/2 a block of cream cheese with 2 spoonfuls of sour cream and 1 tbsp of milk. Then I added 2 tbsp of capers and about 1 tbsp of lemon juice. This I set aside.
3. I chopped up 1/2 a jar of roasted red peppers, 4 roma tomatoes and 1 clove of garlic. Once all the polenta rounds were browned all over I removed them from the pan and threw in the garlic. As soon as it sizzled I added the tomatoes and roasted red pepper.
4. I was hesitant to add much salt as that can draw out the water from the tomatoes and make the sauce watery. I added about a tbsp more olive oil and let everything cook and soften. Then I added a sprinkle of salt and about 1/4 cup of spaghetti sauce, just to add a deeper flavor.
5. Finally I tore up 4 large leaves of basil and added that to the sauce.

To assemble: Place 4 or 5 polenta rounds on a plate. Top with 1/2 cup of the cheese mix and then cover with 1/2 to 2/3 cup of the red sauce.

This recipe can be adapted to whatever you have: black olives, onion, bell pepper, just garlic and tomato sauce...you can do anything with this!