Polenta Baked with Corn, Tomato & Basil

Polenta is summer food - period. This version of baked polenta calls for seasonal tomatoes, fresh corn right off the cob, and basil. I made this dish for my family the week of my baby shower. My brother loved the dish so much, he still talks about it! The great thing about this dish, is that it can be modified to not take up your entire evening with cooking. You'll see below I went for store-bought polenta, and tomato sauce - it was still delicious!

Polenta Baked with Corn, Tomato & Basil
Serves 6-8
Source: Dana Treat - Treat Yourself

Ingredients

Polenta SS: I bought two rolled packs of it from Whole Foods, you can check out Dana's recipe for it here
1½-2 cups of your favorite tomato sauce SS: I used 1 jar of the Tomato-Basil Whole Foods Brand of sauce
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 ears of corn, kernels shaved off the cob SS: I swear this was the secret weapon to this recipe - use fresh kernels, don't use a short cut here, it really made the flavor vibrant and subtly sweet
Salt
¾ pound tomatoes, cored and seeded SS: I used regular tomatoes on the vine
1 tbsp. olive oil
Pepper
1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 or 2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and finely chopped
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the butter in a large skillet and add the corn.  Sauté over medium heat just until the corn is tender, about 5 minutes for very fresh corn.  Season with a sprinkling of salt.  While the corn is cooking, cut the tomatoes into large pieces.  Marinate the tomatoes in the olive oil with a ¼ teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of pepper.  Cool the corn and toss with the tomatoes, half the basil, and the chiles.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.  Pour the tomato sauce into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking pan.  Arrange the polenta triangles upright in tows across the width of the dish, overlapping the triangles slightly; use all of the polenta.  Spoon the vegetables into the spaces between the polenta triangles, separating the rows as you go.  Sprinkle with the cheese.  Cover and bake for 25 minutes, then uncover and bake for 10 more minutes, until the gratin is bubbly.  Sprinkle on the remaining basil and serve.