Creamy Polenta and Other Essential Breakfast Food Groups

I am not sure if I enjoy my Saturday golf outings to Petaluma more these days because of the golf (which tends to be a bit chilly at this time of the year) or because it gives me a chance to stop off at the Della Fattoria bakery on the way home.

Often I just grab a pastry and a latte, but this past Saturday I took a bit more time and had a more proper breakfast. My favorite dish there is the one pictured above – a creamy polenta topped with a couple of free-range poached eggs (the flavor of those alone is worth the drive up to Petaluma), prosciutto and sautéed spinach, all topped with a sprinkling of toasted bread crumbs to add a bit of crunchy texture. Absolute breakfast heaven. But why stop there -- you can jack the whole experience up to the next yummy level with one of their cinnamon rolls (which has now replaced the sadly-departed pecan roll as my favorite DF pastry).

I have not tried to make this dish at home, but it certainly seems like it would be relatively easy to do so. I love polenta in any form, although the Della Fattoria version is very rich – from personal experience and from looking at a few online recipes I suspect the use of a good deal of butter, cream and cheese. Perhaps best consumed only after walking 18 holes.