I love leftovers, and this is one of my favorite dishes to make when I have leftover polenta: Raclette Polenta Slices! They are incredibly easy to make and you can top them with whatever you like – today I topped them with a bit of sautéed leek and ham, but you can also top them with an egg, with onions or – if you want to go more classic raclette flavors – with sliced pickles!

Here’s how you make the basic Raclette-Polenta Slices:

Ingredients: 
Leftover Polenta*
Raclette cheese, in slices
olive oil
Paprika
Topping (of your choice)

Preparation (10 minutes):
Slice your leftover polenta in slices that are roughly as big as a raclette cheese slice.
Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan, add the polenta slices. Sear on each side for 1-2 minutes until golden brown.
Top with a cheese slice each, and cover with a lid. On small to medium heat, let the slices continue to cook ca. 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Sprinkle with paprika and add a topping of your liking – and enjoy!

*If you don’t have leftover polenta, prepare it ahead according to the recipe on your polenta package, because time and ingredients vary depending on how fine your polenta is. Err on the side of too little water for the recipe above, because you want your polenta to get firm once cooled. Mine went like this:

Ingredients:
250g Polenta
1.5 liter water
2 teaspoons of salt
20g of butter

Preparation:
Bring the water to a boil. Add salt and butter.
Add polenta, reduce heat. On very low heat, let the polenta soak for 10-15 minutes.
I also added 2 tablespoons of parmesan, but that’s optional.
Spread the polenta on a baking paper about 1 cm thick. Leave to cool completely (preferably overnight).