Creamy Polenta with Spicy Shrimp

Creamy Polenta with Spicy Shrimp is a comfort dish with soft, cheesy polenta and spicy sautéed shrimp in a smoky tomato sauce.

Polenta has this reputation as being a fussy mess of dish to make but in reality, it’s truly a cinch! My recipe for Creamy Polenta with Spicy Shrimp is delicious, comforting and the perfect dish to hook you on homemade polenta!

When I first started cooking with polenta I was using those rubbery tubes of polenta you buy in the grocery store. You know the exact tubes I’m talking about….As a side note, I must say, whoever got the idea to make polenta and put it in a plastic casing to sell it at the grocery store is a pure genius! They’re making bank on it!

Now that I’ve mastered making polenta at home, I’m completely appalled with myself for wasting so much money on a tube of polenta when a bag of cornmeal can make 10x the amount of polenta for just a fraction of the cost and all in less than 30 minutes.

Polenta truly can be made in 4 easy steps —

1. Boil water
   
2. Pour in cornmeal
3. Vigorously whisk polenta for 2 minutes
4. Cover & simmer on low for 20 minutes

Voila! You have homemade polenta in literally in less than 30 minutes.

As I mentioned, since polenta has this notion of being an impressive dish, when you  make this for others, don’t tell them just how easy it was for you to whip up! You should simply sit back, relax and let the compliments roll in because truthfully, you did make a spectacular dish of polenta and those 2 minutes of whisking makes the praise well deserved!

In this dish for Creamy Polenta with Spicy Shrimp, I kick up the polenta a notch by melting in a handful cheese then topping it with sauteed onions, a simple fresh tomato sauce, and spicy shrimp.  The great part about making this meal, is that while the polenta is simmering, you have just enough time to prep and cook the sauce and shrimp.

Besides the polenta, the other key ingredients in this Creamy Polenta with Spicy Shrimp recipe are fresh thyme and smoked paprika.  Since the shrimp are cooked on the stovetop rather than on the grill, the smoked paprika adds a hint of spice and smokiness that melts deliciously into the cheesy, soft polenta.

As for the thyme — which needs to be fresh — it brings an herby depth to the meal which is added right at the end of cooking. If you choose to use dried thyme in place of fresh, I take no blame in the final results or your review of my Creamy Polenta with Spicy Shrimp. I’m warning you, they key here is fresh thyme.

This Creamy Polenta with Spicy Shrimp dish is true comfort food. It’s an impressive, show-stopping meal that will leave you feeling warm, full and undeniably happy with your own culinary talent. It’s the type of meal you want to savor but it also fits in well to a time-crunched weeknight!

5.0 from 2 reviews

Creamy Polenta with Spicy Shrimp

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

A comfort dish with creamy, cheesy polenta and spicy sauteed shrimp in a smoky tomato sauce.

Serves: 4 meals

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 cup polenta or yellow cornmeal
• ⅓ cup grated Parmesan
• ⅓ cup shredded Italian cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ cup diced yellow onion
• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes*
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• ~24 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• ½ teaspoon cajun seasoning
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons cream**
• Optional: additional grated cheese, thyme or red pepper flakes for garnish

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 teaspoon salt and 4 cups of water to a boil.
2. Once boiling, reduce stove to low and slowly add in the polenta whisking constantly during the addition
3. Continue to whisk vigorously for 2 minutes then cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes
4. While the polenta simmers, begin cooking the vegetables and shrimp
5. In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp with the cajun seasoning, cumin, chili powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, and smoked paprika. Set aside
6. Heat the olive oil In a large skillet over medium-high heat
7. Add the sliced onions, garlic and red pepper flakes
8. Cook until onions begin to brown lightly
9. Add in the grape tomatoes and cook until soft
10. Once the tomatoes are softened, add in the shrimp and saute until cooked on both sides, about 2-3 total
11. To finish the shrimp, onions and tomatoes add in the thyme leaves and 2 tablespoons of cream, stirring lightly and remove from heat.
12. To finish the polenta, once 20 minutes has passed, remove the polenta from the heat whisk in the butter, cheeses, and salt until incorporated throughout.
13. To serve, spoon polenta into a dish and top with the shrimp and vegetables
14. Garnish with additional fresh thyme, grated cheese or red pepper flakes

Notes

*If you have a mild palate when it comes to spice, I would suggest leaving the red pepper flakes out and simply rely on the cajun seasoning for spice. You can always add a bit of red chili flake prior to serving if more spice is desired.
**Milk may be substituted but it's not recommended to use anything less than 2%

3.5.3226