Roasted Cherry Tomatoes Over Polenta Cakes with Goat Cheese

This recipe was inspired by the amazing F&W recipe found here: Crisp Polenta with Cherry Tomatoes

My version isn't quite as "fancy," and definitely more of a quick, what do I have for dinner (?) version.

I had a tube (for lack of a better term) of pre-cooked polenta in my pantry, as well as goat cheese in the fridge, olive oil, salt, and some herbs. The tomatoes arrived in our produce box on the exact day that our friends had brought us a colander full.

Ingredients:

• "Tube" of pre-cooked polenta, usually found in the pasta section of a grocery store
• basket/2 cups of cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
• fresh thyme sprigs
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Toss tomatoes with approximately 2 TB of olive oil, a bit of salt and pepper, and fresh thyme. If you do not have fresh thyme, you may use dried thyme, though the original recipe calls for you to remove the thyme after baking. Spread tomatoes on parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Bake tomatoes for 20 minutes or so, until some start to burst.
4. Meanwhile, slice polenta into 1/2 inch-3/4 inch slices. 
5. In a small frying pan, heat 1 TB olive oil over medium/high heat. Heat polenta slices for approximately ten minutes total. Add olive oil if needed, but not more than 3 TB total.
6. Assemble: Place one polenta disc on a plate. Top with approximately 1 TB of goat cheese and a couple spoonfuls of the tomatoes. 

Enjoy!