Polenta

Recently I’ve discovered an imported 1-minute polenta that works very well. So try it, and you can whip up a satisfying polenta supper in about 15 minutes.

This recipe is inspired by one that Marion Cunningham created for her book Cooking with Children, when she found that the youngsters in her cooking class didn’t have the patience to stir and stir for 40 minutes. It makes a satisfying supper the first time around, and my version allows you to be flexible with the vegetable embellishments, so you use up some of your leftovers. If you want to have the treat of a delicious crispy polenta cake to enjoy later in the week, increase this recipe by adding an additional 1/4 cup polenta and 3/4 cup more warm water so you’ll have that extra polenta to grill or fry

This is something I’m tempted to make when my supply of rich beef broth is low. But maybe that’s an excuse. The truth is, I love eating these cuts, spooning out the marrow from the shank, and, in the second dish, sucking off meat from the little tail bones. It’s nice, messy eating, perhaps best enjoyed alone with a kitchen towel around one’s neck. I usually still have some meat left after lapping up these two dishes—just enough to make myself a pasta on a night when I want a quick supper. Then there’s the treasure of the rich beef broth to put away.

For years polenta reminded me of the Cream of Wheat my mother used to send me off to school with in the morning. It was totally boring. But once I started making polenta for myself I discovered I LOVED it. My special twist? I fat it up with milk, Parm, Fontina cheese, and mascarpone until it’s creamy, decadent, and delicious. Just remember, the kicker here is to season the liquid with plenty of salt in the beginning—it makes all the difference.

I love to make these for company because the polenta can be made WAY in advance. And you can top the cakes with almost anything—I like to use a nice stinky cheese, but after that really anything goes. Tomatoes give you a nice burst of sweetness, but dried fruit is fun, some fresh herbs, whatever you want! No matter how you top them, these corn cakes are little bites of melty, cheesy deliciousness.

Golden and crisp on the outside with a moist, creamy interior, these polenta sticks, a modern twist on classic French fries, make a satisfying late-night snack or finger food. Making polenta is not as laborious as some would have you believe. It’s not necessary to stand over the pot for an hour constantly stirring until your arm is falling off. The key to making perfectly cooked polenta is to stir often, running a wooden spoon along the bottom of the pot so the cornmeal doesn’t stick and burn. This is an ideal make-ahead recipe; prepare the polenta in the morning and cut into sticks just before frying. For an outdoor barbecue, try putting the polenta on the grill; it adds a phenomenal smoky flavor. This salsa’ed-up ketchup is perfect to keep in the fridge for four to five days. The polenta fries and ketchup will happily join Michael’s Genuine Burger (page 118).

Polenta can be made with any grind of cornmeal. We call for polenta cornmeal because it makes a particularly smooth and creamy polenta that also cooks quickly.

As an alternative to mashed potatoes, try making this mouthwatering polenta. Nearly any easily melted cheese will do, but I happen to love the taste of the king of Italian blue cheese, Gorgonzola. It’s available in either sweet (dolce) or more tangy (piccante) versions, and the choice is really up to you. If you have access to a good cheese counter, they’ll let you taste before you buy. And if Gorgonzola isn’t available but you still want to make this dish—and trust me, you really do—you can use any good blue cheese, such as Roquefort, Stilton, or Bleu d’Auvergne.

I’m using instant polenta for this recipe because it works so well for my polenta party: I invite six friends over, and I cut the baked polenta into triangles and serve it with three different sauces: Simple Bolognese (page 65), Spicy Tomato Sauce (page 62), and Mushroom Ragù (page 80). My guests top the triangles with their choice of sauces, and there you have it: a new and easy way to entertain.

This is the most basic, fundamental version of polenta. It’s the perfect side to accompany a delicious, long-simmered stew. Or you can serve this basic recipe topped with your favorite sauce; I’m partial to bolognese.

Better than French fries—and a great snack or appetizer. You can use other dipping sauces, but the simplicity of a good marinara is hard to beat here.

The polenta coating on these fried shrimp makes a shell-like exterior that is just irresistible. I like this with honey mustard for dipping; but if you want to dip yours in marinara or even ketchup, you have my permission. Don’t worry about the paprika; it gives a bit of color but not any heat.

This vegetable-rich entrée is a breeze to make with prepared polenta.

It may seem odd to figure out how to slice a tube of polenta into fries, but it’s actually quite simple. Just follow the directions below, imagining the polenta halves are large potatoes. Then cut the fries as if you’re cutting them from potatoes.

Traditionally, we made polenta with coarse-grain cornmeal and cooked it for 40 minutes or even longer. Today, there is instant polenta, which cooks up nicely in about 15 minutes from start to end. I’m introducing you to polenta by cooking instant polenta; once you master the instant, you can move on to the traditional coarse polenta and you’ll notice the difference in texture. Polenta is unbelievably versatile. I could give you a thousand ways to enjoy it, because that’s how many ways we ate it while we were growing up. It is delicious poured into a bowl and served as is, or allowed to chill and sliced, at which point you can grill or fry it for the next day’s meal. You can even make a “mosaic” by folding diced cooked vegetables into the soft polenta, packing it into a loaf pan while it is still warm, then allowing it to chill. When you cut the chilled loaf into slices, the vegetables will form a mosaic and make an even prettier presentation when cooked.