I had my first experience with polenta about 8 years ago. My oldest son had been on a backpacking trip and someone brought polenta for their meal and he wanted to make some. He bought a 5 pound bag of cornmeal, got my biggest pot, mixed water with the entire bag, cooked it, and then it was supposed to go in the fridge overnight. I’m not exactly sure just how much polenta he made, but let’s just say that it was probably the amount that a very busy restaurant, running polenta for the special of the day, would have made! I let him “do his thing” and I finally had to throw the biggest majority of it out a week or so later.
Back to the present. I made a batch of polenta the other night. I used 1 cup yellow cornmeal and 3 cups of water. I added a tsp of salt also. Bring the water to a boil then slowly whisk in the cornmeal (so it won’t make lumps). Cook it for 10 or 15 minutes on med/low heat, until the meal is soft. Pour the mixture into a greased round cake pan and press it down. It goes in the fridge overnight. You can also make like a sausage roll and wrap it in plastic, then slice it off as you need it.
Polenta is kind of like rice or pasta; it’s a good foundation for sauces, vegetables, or cheesy things. That same son came by for lunch the other day and I sliced a couple of slices of polenta, browned them in a skillet, sautee’d a couple of slices of onion and a sliced poblano pepper in a tablespoon of Evoo, then threw a handful of spinach leaves just for the heck of it. After the spinach was wilted, I served the grilled polenta topped with the sauteed veggies as a side dish to great northern beans I had cooked the day before. He said it was fabulous! I think it would be good to deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar also.
You can also put cheese, garlic, or peppers in the polenta before it’s cooled.
If you’ve priced polenta at the store, then priced cornmeal and look at how simple it is to make, it’s like a no-brainer. Make your own!
p.s. My son is a most excellent cook now 🙂
Wild Things Farm 