Vegetable Polenta Pot Pie

This was a meal I created on my own, using bits and pieces from other recipes to put it all together.  The result was a very tasty and satisfying dish.

Since this was a "make it up as I go along" type of recipe, the measurements are often not exact.  But feel free to do what I did and just adjust as you go along.  In my case, I had a large stash of frozen veggies that I used for the filling.

Vegetable Polenta Pot Pie

Ingredients

Filling:
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp celery seed
Other spices and seasonings to taste (I used coriander and a cube of chicken bouillon)
1 3/4 cup broth (chicken or vegetable)
2/3 cup milk
Various vegetables (such as mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, corn, green beans, peas, etc.), pre-cooked (such as roasted, sauteed, steamed, etc.)

Polenta crust:
3/4 cup cornmeal
3 cups liquid (I chose 2 cups broth, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup milk)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp freshly grated Romano cheese

Directions

Filling:
In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, celery seed, and other spices to taste. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place mixed vegetables in a large baking dish or two pie pans.  Pour gravy over vegetables and mix well.

Polenta crust:
Combine liquid in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil. Gradually stir in cornmeal and salt. Reduce the heat as soon as it starts to show the first signs of spitting, keeping it low enough that the polenta won't puff, pop, and spit as it cooks. Stir it every few minutes. Cook until polenta thickens and pulls away from sides of pan, stirring constantly, about 20-30 minutes (or longer depending on coarseness of cornmeal).   Mix in olive oil.

Pour warm polenta over vegetable mixture. Using spatula, smooth top, covering vegetables completely. Sprinkle polenta with Romano cheese.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake pot pie until polenta is firm to touch and vegetable mixture is heated through, about 20 minutes. Preheat broiler. Broil pot pie until polenta is golden, about 4 minutes.  Serve hot.

Original links:
For gravysauce - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/26317/chicken-pot-pie-ix/
For polenta crust - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vegetable-pot-pie-with-wine-sauce-and-polenta-crust-1549 and http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/how-to-make-the-best-polenta.html