Polenta, or play-doh

The first time I ate polenta was at my office holiday party a few years ago. I worked for an Italian company so we had our dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was a really wild night--the food was a minor player compared to the beverages, but I very distinctly remember the polenta (oh, and a whole roasted pig which had to be carried by two people). I should say, the only dish I remember eating is the polenta. I had never eaten polenta before although I had heard of it. This polenta had been shaped into triangles and fried or baked. It was buttery, creamy, and cheese-y. So delicious. Probably very caloric too.


Which is probably why I had not eaten polenta since. But I was getting a little tired of eating pasta so I thought I'd give it a try.

The method is a little daunting, or at least that's how the various cookbooks I've read made it seem. They say to pour the polenta (corn grits) in a 'steady stream' into boiling water so that you don't get lumps--it is not easy to steadily pour a stream of polenta. But I think this is a slight exaggeration. My method is to swirl the boiling water around while I pour in the polenta; I think the key is to keep the water moving initially. The polenta gets thick fast--it kind of has the consistency of Cream of Wheat. It does have a tendency to stick so it is best to stir constantly. The proportions here are 1 cup of polenta to 3 cups of water.


When it becomes very thick, you can pretty much just serve it. Take it off the heat and stir in some butter (I used about 1-1/2 tablespoons of butter) and grated parmigiano (about a quarter cup). The more butter and cheese you add, the more delicious it is (and dangerously so).


But this is the fun part. The thing about polenta is that it is really easy to form into shapes. As it cools it will thicken and keep whatever shape it's been left in--this is ideal for leftovers. When the polenta is still somewhat pourable, pour into whatever container you want, keeping in mind the shape you'll want to serve. Besides what is pictured above, I've also put polenta into a round cake pan, which can be sliced into wedges. This is great for leftovers. Then all you have to do is slice it and heat it up--you can pan-fry, bake in the oven, or microwave. My favorites to eat (so far) with polenta are chicken sausage with some greens (kale, broccoli rabe, spinach), onions, mushrooms, etc. I think a ratatouille-esque tomato sauce would be good too.


This is a version with egg and gruyere that I made for breakfast.


And this is some chicken sausage with broccoli rabe. The mushy polenta is a nice contrast to the crunchy broccoli rabe and the flavorful sausage.

Something on broccoli rabe to come... I bought like 10 pounds of it at the farmer's market. I'm not kidding.