Polenta: Easy and Versatile
By Charlie Burke
www.TheHeartofNewEngland.com
Polenta is classic, elemental food, made of cornmeal, water and salt. Like pasta, it is a blank slate, taking on the flavors and nuances of the many dishes with which it is served. Served soft from the pot, its creamy mellow flavor is perfect with the sauces from braises or stews. Spread into a one to two inch thick layer on a sheet pan or cutting board and allowed to cool, it can be cut into squares and sautéed in olive oil to form a golden crust or brushed with olive oil and broiled or grilled over charcoal to be served, sprinkled with cheese or herbs, with fish dishes or roasts. I frequently serve mushroom ragout over either soft polenta or grilled slices for a satisfying vegetarian meal or layer polenta slices with cheese and tomato sauce to bake like lasagna. In Italy, the combinations are endless; as with pasta, every cook and region features unique combinations, with grated cheese and herbs being occasionally added to the cornmeal as it cooks
Every cookbook I’ve read, including those by Marcella Hazan, the Julia Child of Italian cooking, stresses the importance of constantly stirring polenta for as long as forty minutes. Several years ago I found that, although it cannot be ignored, polenta needs only an occasional stir and usually cooks in about a half hour. I concluded that polenta recipes had been handed down and accepted without question for generations. Who, after all, would doubt their Nonna’s recipe for making a beloved family tradition? I was amused, then, to read in “Heat”, a book about Mario Batali and Italian food traditions* that in Batali’s restaurant the polenta pot bubbles away untended, with passersby giving it an occasional stir. Although many home cooks make fresh pasta, far fewer attempt polenta, perhaps deterred by the daunting recipes. It is important that the cornmeal be added slowly to boiling water and stirred with a whisk to prevent clumping, but after that, if stirred occasionally and cooked at a slow simmer, the results are the same as if constantly stirred. I prefer coarsely ground cornmeal and have had great results with the stone ground organic cornmeal from the Littleton Grist Mill in Littleton, New Hampshire (http://www.littletongristmill.com/).
Four to six servings
1 ½ cups coarsely ground corn meal
6 cups water
2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
Bring water to a boil in a heavy bottomed 4 -6 quart pot. Add salt and slowly add polenta while whisking. Cook over low heat at a slow simmer, stirring every 4 – 5 minutes, preferably with a flat wooden spatula. As the polenta thickens, it should bubble slowly, releasing steam though the thick bubbles. Cook in this manner for approximately 25 minutes, stirring more frequently toward the end of cooking. The polenta is done when it pulls away from the side of the pot when stirred and is slow to flow back into the path of the spoon.
Serve immediately with sauce, olive oil, or butter with grated parmesan cheese or spread onto a flat surface, smoothing it to 1 -2 inches of thickness with a spatula moistened with water. When cooled, it can be cut into pieces for sautéing, grilling or broiling. Polenta is as versatile as pasta, so incorporate it into your Italian recipes and enjoy this satisfying peasant fare.
*Heat, Bill Buford, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2006