Polenta

Polenta

Presentation

Polenta is made only with water, corn flour and salt. It is as simple as it is versatile. In northern Italy we use it like bread. You can eat it soft or toasted and it goes perfectly with roasts, meats, cheeses, vegetables ... in short, with everything. You can keep it for the whole week in the refrigerator and toast a few slices if necessary in a few minutes. Try it!

Ingredients:

  • 2 liters of water
  • 400g of corn flour
  • 20g of salt

Preparation:

First cooking

1 Boil the water in a saucepan over high heat, as soon as it starts to boil 2 add the salt and 3 pour the cornmeal slowly, stirring at the same time with a whisk to avoid lumps.

Polenta cooking
Wait 2-3 minutes and stir the polenta vigorously 4 with a wooden spoon, then 5 cover the pot with a lid and set the heat to low. Every 10-15 minutes 6 vigorously mix the polenta for a few seconds and put the lid back on. After about 1 hour the polenta will be ready to be served soft perhaps with a good stew.

Preparation and cooling of the polenta

If, on the other hand, you want to toast the polenta, 7 take a baking tray and wet the inner walls with water. Remove the excess water and 8 level the surface with a spatula, 9 let it rest for 10 minutes and then put it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Cut and toast the polenta

When the polenta is very cold, 10 turn the pan over on a surface or on your hand to let it come out. Then 11 cut slices of the shape and size you prefer and put them to roast on a hot plate. 12 Before turning the slices, you must wait until a surface crust has formed, otherwise they will not come off the plate. When the slices are well toasted on both sides you can serve them hot with cold cuts or cheeses, or use them as canapes in an aperitif.

Advise

  • Polenta is a very versatile accompanying dish, in fact you can accompany it when it is still soft with roasted meat, but here we use it very toasted to accompany grilled meat or cured meats and cheeses. Even fried it's not bad.

Author:

Luigi Silvestri Corradin

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