Polenta

Coarse maize rained into salted water and stirred for the better part of an hour.

Not vegetarian — contains parmesan whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 300 g coarse stone-ground maize flour
• 1.5 litres water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 60 g butter
• 80 g parmesan, grated, if serving it wet

Method

1. Bring the water to a boil and salt it. ONE PART MAIZE TO FIVE OF WATER by volume for a wet polenta; four to one if you mean to set and grill it.
2. RAIN THE MAIZE IN IN A THIN STREAM WHILE WHISKING CONTINUOUSLY. Tipped in, it forms lumps that never break down however long you stir.
3. Once it is all in, swap to a wooden spoon and drop the heat to the lowest setting.
4. STIR FOR 40 TO 45 MINUTES, scraping the bottom and sides. Coarse stone-ground maize needs that long to swell; the quick-cook sort is pre-gelatinised and takes eight, and tastes of considerably less.
5. It is ready when it comes away from the sides of the pan in one mass and a spoon stands up briefly.
6. For wet polenta, beat in the butter and parmesan and serve at once — it stiffens as it cools.
7. To set it, pour it onto a wetted board 2 cm thick and leave it to go cold and firm, then cut it into slices to grill or fry.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes