Herbed Polenta with Shrimp

I wanted something simple but still really good. I had all these ingredients in the fridge randomly so it was super easy to make this. There was some left over polenta once I'd finished the shrimp so I went ahead and placed it in parchment paper in a long tube shape like I would cookie dough. Then I refrigerated it and I'm planning to slice into it and grill it to make little polenta rounds next time I have some left over meat.

Ingredients:

For Polenta:
1 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup whole milk or cream
2 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For Shrimp:
2 pieces bacon, cooked crispy with fat reserved
6-8 shrimp
1 tbs butter
paprika
salt and pepper

Directions

1. Cook up bacon until crispy. Remove and reserve 1 tbs of fat.

2. Bring the water to a boil in a heavy large saucepan. Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, stirring often, about 15 minutes.

3. Put butter into bacon fat pan and melt. Add shrimp and season with a good sprinkle of paprika, salt and pepper. Cook about 1 or 2 minutes per side or until shrimp is pink.

4. Remove polenta from the heat once cornmeal is finished. Add the cheese, milk, butter, parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper, and stir until the butter and cheese melt. Transfer the polenta to a bowl and top with shrimp, a little extra cheese, some chopped parsley, and crumbled bacon then serve.