Polenta is a popular dish in northern Italy that is made with cornmeal. There are many variations on the basic recipe. Cheese, mushrooms, meat, vegetables, seafood, herbs and even wine are added to cornmeal. The result is a hearty, high-calorie main course or a great side dish.
You need to cook polenta in a thick-walled saucepan. Pour 1 liter of salted water into it and bring to a boil. Pour 250 g of cornmeal in a thin stream into boiling water, stirring constantly. Then reduce the heat and cook the porridge for about half an hour, stirring it all the time. When the polenta is free to lag behind the walls, it can be considered ready. If the polenta is too thick, pour some more hot water into it, and keep the liquid porridge a little more on fire.
Polenta can also be cooked with milk. This option is usually served with cheese.
The variety of flavors depends on the ingredients you add to the finished polenta. Try making a mushroom dish. Thinly chop 400 g of champignons, chop an onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Fry the onion and garlic in hot olive oil until golden brown, then add the mushrooms and simmer until tender. Move the mushrooms and onions to a bowl, and put the polenta into the pan where they were cooked and flatten it. Spread the mushroom mixture on top and bake the dish in an oven preheated to 180 ° C for 10-15 minutes. Remove the pan, sprinkle with 100 g of grated Parmesan cheese on the polenta and place in the oven again. When the cheese is melted, remove from the oven and serve.
You can use gruyere cheese instead of Parmesan.
A very sophisticated option is polenta with shrimps. Prepare the main recipe for the corn porridge, it should be thick enough. Cool it down, put it on a board and cut into pieces. Boil 500 g of shrimp and peel. Crush 2 cloves of garlic in a mortar, finely chop a bunch of parsley and dill. Heat olive oil in a skillet, quickly fry the garlic in it, add herbs, 1 cup dry white wine, salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Bring the mixture to a boil and add the shrimp to it. Cover the skillet with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes.
Grease a refractory dish with oil, put pieces of polenta on the bottom and pour over them wine sauce with shrimps. Place the dish in an oven preheated to 220 ° C for 7-10 minutes. Serve the polenta hot.
Cheese polenta with tomato sauce is an excellent dish for a festive table. Thanks to the use of several varieties of cheese, polenta acquires new flavors. Cook the basic recipe for corn porridge. Scald 6 ripe fleshy tomatoes with boiling water, remove the skin, remove the grains and finely chop the pulp. Heat olive oil in a skillet and add 300 g of minced pork in it. Stirring with a wooden spatula, fry the minced meat until tender, add salt, ground black pepper, chopped tomatoes. Cover the skillet with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes.
Crumble 100 g of sheep's cheese, 100 g of pecorino and grate the same amount of Parmesan. Combine the cheeses in a bowl. Cut the cooled polenta into strips and place in a greased mold. On top, place half of the minced meat in tomato sauce, sprinkle with the cheese mixture, put the remaining minced meat and sprinkle it with cheese too. Place the dish in an oven preheated to 200 ° C for 30 minutes. Serve the polenta hot as a main course.
