It has been unseasonably cold this year, with some temperatures going into negative digits. Even we Californians have been in it, with chilly evenings where a crackling fire and a dish of cozy comfort is what we crave. I was dreaming of soft polenta, but I wondered: What to top it with? Then I thought…

Looking for an easy appetizer? Claudia Roden shares these delicious bites in her latest cookbook, “Claudia Roden’s Mediterranean: Treasured Recipes From a Lifetime of Travel,” and the recipes (including this one!) fit right into the Seriously Simple philosophy. Polenta was originally cooked and served as a porridge to feed poor northern Italian peasantry, and Roden…