Polenta echoes cucina povera cooking from the Northern plains and regions of Italy. Delicious when cooked and seasoned well whilst making a great alternative to pasta, potatoes and rice. Polenta – is gluten free and is very much a staple ingredients in my kitchen larder with two main varieties. One being the golden glow of yellow polenta and the other hailing from the Veneto region of Italy, ‘white polenta’.

White polenta is delicious and my preference when making cicchetti style tasters, ‘Polenta al baccala’ however standard polenta is more than capable to handle the job too. Polenta makes a great added ingredient when sprinkled into cake and biscuits batters, breadcrumb mixes and also makes a perfect base to lay fresh pasta onto dry or sprinkle the grains on your pizza peel before lifting your pizza into a pizza oven.

You really can’t go far wrong when making soft polenta, just ensure you season and finish it well as there’s nothing worse than bland under seasoned polenta! You are able to have polenta served as a soft mash consistency but also it can be transferred into a dish, chilled, sliced and pan-fried. Then topped with fish, roasted vegetables or a simple sauce. Options are truly endless. Normally polenta is cooked in water and seasoned with salt, I however love to also cook it in milk or a stock for added flavour.

There are 2 forms of polenta. Fast cook which is ready in around 5 minutes (sometimes frowned upon in Italy) and the traditional slow stirred version which will take around an hours gently stirring. I’m a kind of express lady at the moment, but the choice is yours. Here’s a simple recipe to start you off.

325g polenta (quick cook)

1 litre water or stock

70g Parmesan, grated

30g butter

Sugo or ragu of your choice

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  1. Prepare your sauce. I opted for a slow cooked sausage sugo but a simple tomato or vegetable sauce would work well too.
  2. Heat the water (salt well) or stock and tumble in the polenta and stir well for approx. 5 minutes. Cook the polenta grains out. If the polenta is a little too firm, simply add a little more water.
  3. A minute before the polenta is ready add the Parmesan and butter. Continue to stir. Season with a little pepper and taste. Check for additional seasoning.
  4. Spoon the polenta into bowls and top with your sauce.
  5. Sprinkle over additional Parmesan and enjoy.

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