How to cook polenta? How to submit it? How to make a rich snack out of "poor" porridge? All these culinary questions will be considered in this article.
Recipe content:
Among the numerous Italian culinary treasures, many dishes are in the public domain: pizza, risotto, pasta, polenta. This is the most sonorous "roll call" of Italian dishes. In this famous list, polenta occupies a special place, which has turned from porridge for the poor into a gourmet dish. In gourmet restaurants, the dish is valued at a considerable amount. However, this dish is both democratic and rich at the same time.
Cooking polenta: subtleties and secrets
Polenta is a dish made from cornmeal. It is a thick porridge, a side dish or an independent dish. It is served on its own or with additives: meat, anchovies, fish, seafood, etc. The quality of polenta depends on the quality of the flour. The dish should be creamy and smooth. when cooked, the starch dissolves completely. Cheap low-grade flour will not give a similar result, and larger particles will not completely dissolve.
- For soft polenta, use 3 parts water to 1 part cornmeal.
- Cook the dish over low heat for 40-50 minutes, stirring constantly.
- The "historical" technology involves the use of copper utensils for cooking polenta.
- The readiness of porridge is determined when the mass lags behind the walls of the pan. Then it's time to remove it from the stove.
- Cornmeal can be white or yellow. But more often yellow is used.
- It is desirable to give preference to coarse flour, then the dish will be more healthy. From fine grinding, porridge will come out more tender with a creamy texture.
- To serve, pour the polenta into a bowl dipped in cold water. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then spread on a plate.
- The remaining polenta is kept in the refrigerator under plastic wrap for up to 3 days.
- If the porridge is needed thick, for frying, then it is laid out on a greased baking sheet 1.2 cm thick and left until thickened or baked at 175 ° C until it warms up.
- Cut thick polenta into squares with a pizza cutter or an ordinary kitchen knife.
- Before cutting, it is kept for some time in hot water.
- To avoid lumps, the flour is slowly poured into boiling water, stirring constantly. Another easy way to avoid lumps is to pour the cornmeal into cold water, beat quickly, and then bring to a boil.
- If the bottom of the polenta is burnt, then it is transferred to another pan, without scraping off the burnt bottom, and continue cooking. At the same time, it is often stirred.
- Remove the lumpy polenta from the stove, knead the lumps, beat vigorously with a mixer.
- Soft warm polenta can replace bread during meals.
Polenta can be prepared in a variety of ways. But the simplest is on water with the addition of salt. For a tastier and healthier porridge, use yellow or white flour, and a thick consistency - coarse grinding.
- Calorie content per 100 g - 87 kcal.
- Servings - 4
- Cooking time - 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- Water - 3 l
- Corn grits - 1 tbsp.
- Salt - to taste
Step by step preparation:
- Boil salted water in a saucepan.
- Gradually pour in the corn grits, while constantly stirring the mass.
- After boiling again, when bubbles form, reduce the heat.
- Continue to cook the cereal for 30 minutes, stirring constantly. If necessary, add water or sprinkle porridge.
- When the mass lags behind the walls of the pan, then the dish is ready.
- Transfer the mass to a tray, give the desired shape and leave to cool.
The original and classic polenta recipe is very simple. The main thing is to follow the technology and the sequence of the recipe.
Ingredients:
- Yellow cornmeal - 0.5 tbsp.
- Drinking water - 1.5 tbsp.
- Salt - to taste
- Boil water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan so that the porridge does not burn.
- Gradually add the cornmeal, stirring it with a wooden spoon.
- Salt and stir.
- Bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Reduce the heat to the minimum and cook the food for 30 minutes, remembering to stir.
- When the porridge begins to lag behind the walls, freely separate from the bottom and form a crust on the walls of the pan, it means that it is ready. The consistency of the polenta should be smooth and creamy.
- Lay the Italian delicacy on a cutting board, shape into a rectangular shape and refrigerate.
Polenta is a very popular Italian dish today. In preparation, it is very simple and will definitely appeal to those who love corn porridge, because in fact it is a thick, dense corn porridge, cut into cubes. Very often, polenta is supplemented with cheese, herbs, vegetables and mushrooms, poured with olive oil with aromatic additives and all kinds of sauces. Polenta can be served as an appetizer spread with some kind of pâté, but is most often served as a side dish for meat dishes. It turns out very satisfying and nutritious!
Ingredients
- 150 grams cornmeal
- 600 ml water
- some salt
For cooking polenta, it is best to choose medium or finely ground corn grits, as coarse corn grits will cook for a long time and will not create a characteristic homogeneous structure.
How to cook polenta
To prepare polenta, cereals and water are taken in a ratio of 1: 4. Boil water in a small saucepan with a thick bottom, adding a pinch of salt to it. When the water boils, add the cornmeal to it. Stir the cereal so that there are no lumps. Cook the polenta, stirring occasionally, over low heat. At first she will gurgle.
But very soon the cereal will absorb water and turn into a thick porridge.
Continuing to stir the polenta, cook it for 30-35 minutes. The porridge should begin to stick to the walls and even burn a little - do not try to scrape off the adhering layer. The polenta itself will become very thick: if you move it to one side of the pan, it should not spread.
Line a small rectangular tin with parchment paper and transfer the polenta to the tin. Small plastic food trays are fine for this.
Pack and level the polenta well so that there are no voids inside.
Then cover the cereal and send it to the refrigerator until it cools completely. During this time, the polenta will seize, become even denser and hold its shape. Remove the polenta from the tray and cut into 1cm thick pieces.
Place these pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Send the polenta to the oven, preheated to 200-220 degrees for 5-10 minutes. You can put it under the grill - then it will have delicious ruddy edges.
Place a few sticks of polenta on a plate in a pile, and before serving, you can pour over any sauce or vegetable oil.
The national Italian dish is corn polenta! Very tasty and satisfying - with cheese, raisins, vegetables.
Polenta, a dish made from crushed corn kernels, first appeared in Italy in the 16th century. After this golden cereal was brought from America to Europe by Columbus. Initially, this dish was cooked only by the poor. However, over time, it became widespread and won the love of Italian gourmets, turning from an ordinary peasant food into a gourmet dish. Polenta is a versatile food. The thing is that the Italians use it not only as a side dish for meat and fish dishes, but also as a dessert, snack, and even instead of bread. It all depends on the recipe. And there are an incredible number of them. You can cook polenta soft and sweet, you can harden it and serve it cut into pieces. In addition, it can be supplemented with vegetables, cheese, mushrooms, meat or seafood and get a completely independent and very satisfying dish. For children, it is best to offer polenta with sweet fruits. In general, any gourmet will find a recipe to your taste. If you master the classic polenta recipe, then all its other variations will not seem difficult for you.
- 1 cup polenta (very fine cornmeal)
- 3 glasses of water.
- Salt to taste.
- Butter.
To prepare this dish, very small corn grits are used - almost flour. It's called "polenta". And to be more precise, it’s not even cereal, but coarse corn flour. By the way, the taste of the dish depends very much on its quality. You can never make real polenta from cheap low-grade flour - smooth and velvety, with a delicate, creamy taste. But that's not all. Before making cornmeal polenta, you will need to find a deep copper pot or a thick-walled pot. In the old days, every Italian family had a special cauldron for this purpose, which hung over the hearth and a long wooden spoon to it. It was in it that Italian housewives cooked their traditional dish. But, given that it is rather problematic to get such a boiler in our time, you can also use an ordinary Teflon heat-resistant saucepan. So, you will need to measure exactly 3 cups of water. That is, the ratio of water to cereal should be exactly 3 to 1. No more, no less. When the water boils, salt it to taste, reduce the heat to a minimum so that the water barely gurgles and pour the flour in a very thin stream, stirring constantly.
Now be patient, because in the next 30-40 minutes your task will be to continuously stir the corn porridge. Patiently, carefully and not in a hurry. When the porridge begins to slightly lag behind the walls of the pan, and this will happen no earlier than in half an hour, the fire can be turned off.
Spoon the finished porridge onto a shallow baking sheet or into another suitable container about a centimeter thick.
Smooth it out with a spoon. Lay the parchment on top and again gently smooth the whole mass with your hands. Let it cool down for about half an hour. Then remove the parchment.
Cut the frozen mass into pieces. You can also squeeze circles with a glass - as you like.
Heat a frying pan with butter and fry the polenta pieces in it.
Transfer them to a plate and sprinkle with pepper if desired. You can eat both cold and hot.
Recipe 2: Corn Polenta (Step by Step)
Polenta, in fact, corn porridge with various additives, is an Italian dish. Variations on the polenta theme exist in different parts of Italy. Since the taste of corn grits is rather neutral, and the color is not very expressive, in order to prepare an appetizing polenta, something spicy and bright is added to the corn porridge, such as hot and sweet peppers of different colors, garlic, and various herbs.
- water - 800 ml
- corn grits - 150 g
- soft cheese - 100 g
- hard parmesan cheese - 30 g
- hot chili pepper - 1 pc.
- garlic - 2 cloves
- olive oil - 2 tbsp. l.
Prepare all the ingredients for the polenta. Mince the garlic. The garlic cloves should be approximately 2mm on a side. Finely chop the pepper (1 or ½) into 5mm squares. If you are not a fan of spicy food, first remove the seeds from the pepper, or you can limit yourself to just half a hot pepper. Grate both cheeses (soft and hard) on a fine grater.
Saute garlic and hot peppers in olive oil.
One minute will be enough, the main thing is that the garlic and pepper retain their juiciness, and do not dry out and do not overcook. Strain garlic and pepper through a strainer, drain excess oil.
Boil water (800 ml) in a saucepan, salt it and pour in corn grits (150 g) in a thin stream, stirring constantly. If you pour all the cereal at once, it will instantly brew, and you will get a shapeless piece of porridge instead of polenta. Remember, semolina porridge is cooked according to the same principle. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring the corn grits continuously for five minutes. Its readiness can be defined as follows. If, when stirring, a trace of a spoon remains at the bottom of the pan with corn grits, then the porridge can be removed from the heat.
Add fried peppers with garlic to the finished corn porridge.
Add soft cheese and Parmesan.
Stir.
Form (preferably square) line with baking paper, pour the corn mixture.
Level the surface.
Place the polenta in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool the finished polenta completely, only then cut into sticks 2 cm wide and 6 cm long.
Serve Italian polenta with any sauce. It goes well even with ketchup, and real fire-eaters will love polenta with Tabasco spicy sauce.
Recipe 3, simple: cornmeal polenta
- Finely ground cornmeal - 100 grams
- Water - 300 grams
- Salt - 20 grams
The ingredients for polenta are very modest, you can’t even believe that you can cook a gourmet dish from this set.
It is ideal to cook classic polenta in a copper bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon, but copper dishes are rare in our modern apartments, so you can replace it with a pot with thick walls and a bottom or a cauldron. Pour the required amount of water into a thick-walled saucepan, add salt and bring the water to a boil.
The main secret of the perfect polenta is the correct proportion of products, one part flour and three parts water. We introduce flour into boiling water in small parts and mix well with a spoon so that lumps do not form, the porridge should be of a homogeneous consistency.
With constant stirring, we cook porridge from corn for about 50 minutes, this long and laborious process cannot be interrupted, this is how the porridge will turn out to be the right consistency and not burn. As soon as the porridge begins to lag behind the walls and it has a crust, it is ready, proceed to the next stage of cooking.
Line a baking dish with parchment paper.
Put the cooked corn porridge in the form, cool, then put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
After the allotted time, we take out the finished polenta from the refrigerator, remove the parchment paper, put it on a cutting board.
Carefully divide the polenta into portioned pieces according to your taste, cut off the bumps and edges.
Put the sliced pieces in a baking dish, pre-grease the bottom of the form with sunflower oil. Put in an oven preheated to 120 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Let the polenta cool down, now our dish is ready, you can put it on serving plates, because in the homeland of polenta they use it even instead of bread, or cook delicious dishes from polenta.
Polenta can be served with vegetables. You can also serve polenta with meat dishes; in Venice, you will definitely be served it with fish dishes.
For breakfast, polenta can be prepared in the form of tartlets with cucumber and boiled egg, you can’t imagine a better breakfast.
Polenta is delicious in combination with any ingredients, it is very versatile, cooled and dried polenta, for example, can be cut into pieces, sprinkled with grated parmesan and baked in the oven. Grilled polenta or sweet polenta is also delicious, it is customary to eat it by dipping it in coffee with milk.
Recipe 4: Italian Polenta
Corn porridge polenta is one of the most ancient and favorite dishes of Italians. In the north of Italy, it is customary to cook it with the addition of the remains of different types of cheese, as well as with various meat fillings.
Our step-by-step recipe with photos will show you how to make cornmeal polenta at home. This porridge also turns out well from cereals, but flour polenta is more tender. The resulting dish is very difficult to compare with ordinary porridge. The cheese in its composition gives the Italian polenta a unique taste that cannot be forgotten.
Our photo recipe will help you easily prepare corn polenta to please your loved ones with an old Italian dish.
- cornmeal - 380 gr
- water - 1 l
- milk - 250 ml
- butter - 160 gr
- hard cheese - 250 gr
- garlic - 1 clove
- white bread - 1 slice
- sage - 4 leaves
- thyme - 1 sprig
- edible salt - to taste
We prepare water: mix it with milk and bring to a boil, salt and throw bread.
Slowly and carefully fold in the cornmeal. Reduce heat and cook for 10-15 minutes. The main thing is not to forget constantly, stir so that lumps do not form.
Now let's get to the cheeses: they need to be grated or crumbled ( it depends on the type of cheeses you choose for the dish).
After the polenta has boiled, add the cheeses to it, stirring constantly until they are completely dissolved.
We heat the pan, melt the butter in it, add the garlic, which must be crushed well beforehand, and sage leaves.
After a few minutes, take out the garlic and sage, and pour the resulting mixture into porridge. Mix well, decorate with a sprig of thyme - and corn polenta according to an old Italian recipe is ready. It can be used as an independent dish with some kind of sauce or as a side dish for meat.
Recipe 5: Polenta Porridge with Bell Peppers
Polenta is the national dish of Italians, an analogue of hominy in Moldovan cuisine.
- Vegetable oil
- Flour 2 tbsp
- Butter 30 g.
- Onion 100 g
- Salt 0.5 tsp
- Herbs 0.5 tsp
- Tomatoes 100 g
- Water 700 ml.
- Sour cream 2 tbsp
- Bulgarian pepper 100 g.
- Corn grits 250 g
To prepare polenta, you will need finely ground corn grits or flour, salt and aromatic herbs (they are optional, you can add them at your discretion), onions, vegetable oil, wheat flour, butter, tomatoes, sweet peppers and sour cream.
Mix the cereal with dried herbs. If you don't want to use them, you can skip this step.
Bring the water to a boil. Pour cereal into it. You need to pour in a thin stream, constantly stirring the water. Throwing out all the cereal at once is wrong. She will fall into clumps. They can be broken, but for this you have to stir the porridge intensively. It’s easier to pour the cereal in portions.
Soon the porridge will begin to thicken. At this stage, add salt, butter to it and mix.
Continue cooking until the porridge thickens. Stir occasionally to evenly distribute heat and liquid. If the porridge has thickened, but the grains are still not soft enough, add a little water and continue cooking. The finished polenta should be so thick that a spoon stuck in it does not fall off.
Grease a deep plate or other suitable dish with vegetable oil. Put polenta in it. Smooth the surface with a spoon dipped in cold water. Leave the porridge to cool for 1-2 hours. During this time, the polenta will become dense and suitable for cutting.
Turn the chilled polenta over and place on a wooden board. When cooling, the porridge will decrease slightly in volume and it will be easy to get it. Cut the polenta with strong string or a wet knife. Do not use a regular knife. Boiled corn will stick to it, and you will only spoil even beautiful pieces. Do not cut hot polenta. It will fall apart into separate pieces.
Bread the polenta slices in flour and place in a pan with hot vegetable oil. You don't need a lot of flour. It is enough that it covers the pieces with a thin layer on both sides. Fry 2-3 minutes on each side, until browned. Do not turn the pieces until a golden crust appears at the bottom. It not only improves the taste and appearance of the dish, but also makes the pieces stronger and prevents them from falling apart. In general, polenta is completely ready-to-eat and unroasted. But I decided to cook just such a version of the dish. In Italy, by the way, it is called polenta fritta.
Prepare vegetable sauce for fried polenta. Cut all vegetables into small cubes.
Fry the onion with sweet pepper in vegetable oil until softened. Add tomatoes to them and fry until they soften too.
Add sour cream, salt, pepper and simmer for another 5 minutes under the lid. Drizzle this sauce over polenta when serving. If you want, you can grind the sauce in a blender and then bring it to a boil, then it will have a more uniform structure. Let the hot polenta with sauce rest in a bowl for a few minutes before serving, so that the porridge is well saturated with the aroma of the sauce.
Recipe 6: Polenta with Cheese (Step by Step Photos)
Polenta is a corn flour dish that can be served as a side dish. By adding cheese to polenta, you will get an independent dish and surprise all your loved ones with a new dish.
- Milk - 250 ml
- Corn flour - 70 g
- Butter - 25 g
- Cheese or cheese - 200 g
- Salt - to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Fresh parsley - 2 g
How to cook polenta with cheese: Pour milk into a double-bottomed saucepan or cauldron and put on fire.
After boiling, add butter and, if desired, salt.
Dry the corn flour in the oven and sift (it is best to take finely ground flour). Whisking constantly, gradually add the cornmeal (the quality of your polenta depends on the quality of the flour). Thoroughly mix the porridge for 5 minutes over low heat.
Add another 40-50 g of milk and stir for another 4 minutes.
The polenta should be thick.
After the porridge has become a homogeneous consistency, put it in a mold or glass, previously greased with butter. It is good to tamp the porridge with a spoon, after wetting it with water.
Place the polenta in the refrigerator for 20-25 minutes until completely cool.
After getting out of the form.
Cut the polenta with a slightly damp knife.
Put on a plate, sprinkle with black pepper and chopped herbs.
Put sheep cheese or cheese on top and put the polenta with cheese in the oven (temperature - 180 degrees) for 7-10 minutes.
Cheese polenta is ready!
Recipe 7, step by step: polenta with mushrooms
An Italian dish called polenta is becoming more and more popular in our area. Along with pasta and pizza, it is prepared at Italian-style parties and served in themed restaurants. Making polenta at home is very easy if you know how to cook ... semolina. Yes, yes, it is this dish that most of all resembles an Italian delicacy in terms of consistency and method of preparation. Well, adding greens and mushrooms to it, you will get an excellent festive dish, which may well become the "star" of the entire table.
- Polenta - 250 g
- Champignons - 300 g
- Onion - 1 pc.
- Hard cheese - 200 g
- Green garlic - 3-5 stalks
- Parsnip leaves - half a bunch
- Salt - to taste
- Vegetable oil for frying
The technology for preparing this dish is designed in such a way that you first need to make a mushroom "additive", and after it - the polenta itself. So we clean the onion, cut it into half rings, rings or cubes (this is whoever loves it). We spread it on a frying pan heated and covered with vegetable oil, fry on all sides.
While the onions are fried, quickly clean the mushrooms, cut them into smaller pieces and put them in a pan. Please note that the fire must be rather big: otherwise the mushrooms will immediately release water and begin to “cook”. Salt mushrooms with onions, stir them from time to time.
Now let's cook polenta! To begin with, a small educational program: corn grits are often called polenta and it is recommended to cook it for 30-40 minutes. This is wrong: in fact, polenta is a very fine cornmeal that cooks almost instantly. Well, the classic corn porridge (mamaliga) from the corresponding cereals really should be cooked longer. In order to cook polenta, put a pot of water on the fire (there should be 3 times more water than polenta). If the water is already boiling, slowly pour the polenta into it, stirring all the time. At the same time, we make the fire very small. Then everything is the same as in the preparation of semolina porridge: constantly stir the porridge and make sure that there are no lumps. Don't forget to add some salt. After 3-5 minutes, polenta is ready.
Cut green garlic. Instead, you can add green onions to the polenta.
Now you need to prepare the cheese - grate it on a fine grater.
We process the baking dish with vegetable oil and put the polenta into it.
Lay a layer of mushrooms and onions on top of the polenta.
Well, the final layer is cheese. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and put our mold in it. Keep it there for up to 10 minutes, until the cheese is completely melted.
Polenta with mushrooms and herbs is ready! This porridge tastes like dumplings. Nevertheless, the dish is considered very noble and claims to be the gourmet's favorite delicacy.
Try to cook polenta with mushrooms - and see for yourself the excellent taste of this dish!
Recipe 8: Polenta with Tomatoes and Meat
a traditional set of products for Italian cuisine - fresh vegetables and meat, and instead of bread it is proposed to cook polenta. Polenta is a cool porridge made from finely ground corn grits, which completely replaces bread and can be served with any dish - fried fish, chicken, meat, stewed vegetables. Polenta is baked and fried in oil, boiled in milk or water, vegetable broth, made dense, almost like bread or more tender, resembling thick porridge. In any form and in any combination, polenta is very tasty and healthy, and even if you get carried away and allow yourself a large portion of polenta, there will be no harm to the figure.
An appetizer of polenta with tomatoes and meat can be served in portions, making turrets, or on a plate, supplemented with meat, vegetables and soft cheese.
- finely ground corn grits - 1 cup;
- water - 1 glass;
- milk - 2 cups;
- lean meat (veal, beef, pork) - 300 gr;
- lard with layers of meat - 200 gr;
- salt - to taste;
- mozzarella or any soft cheese - 150 gr;
- fresh tomatoes (large) - 4-5 pcs;
- any fresh herbs - for serving.
Cut the fat into small cubes or sticks. We make the cuts not large, but not very small, taking into account the fact that the fat will need to be melted to cracklings.
We cut the meat a little larger than the fat. It is advisable to slightly freeze the meat for polenta from corn grits and then cut into neat cubes with sides of 2-2.5 cm.
We measure the right amount of finely ground corn grits. In appearance, it differs markedly from cornmeal, the structure of the cereal is heterogeneous, the grains are clearly visible.
Heat a dry frying pan well. Throw in the pieces of fat. We melt the fat, make cracklings, but do not fry them much. With a slotted spoon, we select the cracklings, while the pan with fat is set aside.
We cook polenta. Pour milk into boiling water (you need to cook polenta in a cauldron).
Heat up and bring the milk and water almost to a boil. Salt to taste.
Pour in 2-3 tbsp. spoons of rendered fat. Fat is needed so that the polenta with tomatoes and meat turns out to be tastier and more tender in taste.
Let the milk boil. Pour all the grits in a slide until you stir.
The milk continues to boil quietly, the cereal gradually swells. When the milk rises and almost covers the cereal, we take a pusher and begin to mix the cereal with milk, as if kneading it.
Gradually, the cereal will absorb milk, the mass will become viscous and lumpy. It is necessary to knead the cereal well so that there are no dry areas left.
Cover the casserole with polenta. We make a small fire, steam the grits for 20-25 minutes. It should become soft and tender, absorb all the liquid. Near the walls, the cereal will be baked, slightly fried. We turn the cauldron with ready-made polenta onto a plate so that the polenta is on the plate in a slide. Cover it with a towel and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
We put a frying pan with rendered fat on a strong fire. Fry the meat quickly until golden brown. Salt the meat to taste. Mix the fried meat with cracklings and warm everything up.
We transfer the polenta to a cutting board and knead with a layer of 3 cm. Cut out circles with a glass. Cut the tomatoes into thick slices. Put a circle of tomato on a circle of polenta.
Put crumbled mozzarella or any soft cheese, fried meat with cracklings on top of the tomato. Decorate with herbs and serve a snack to the table. Bon Appetit!
Recipe 9: Sweet Polenta with Raisins and Dried Apricots
- 1.5 st. water (or milk)
- 150 g corn grits
- 2 tbsp Sahara
- a pinch of salt
- a handful of raisins
- a handful of dried apricots
- butter (or vegetable) oil for greasing the mold
- maple syrup or honey for serving
Bring milk to a boil, add cereals, sugar, salt, cook over low heat under the lid for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the porridge is being cooked, rinse the raisins with hot water, pour the dried apricots with boiling water for 10 minutes, then cut into pieces equal in size to the raisins.
Grease a rectangular shape with butter.
When the porridge is ready, add raisins and dried apricots to it, mix, put in a mold, level with a spatula.
Allow the polenta to cool, then cut into slices and drizzle with maple syrup or honey when serving. Polenta can be stored in the refrigerator for several days.
Recipe 10: Polenta Casserole with Vegetables
I suggest you cook a puff casserole of polenta with vegetables. This lean vegan dish is very easy to prepare. Vegetables can be taken according to the season and to your taste. I really like polenta with vegetables, see the classic recipe with photos step by step below.
- 1 cup corn flour
- about 2 liters of water
- 1 carrot
- half onion,
- half sweet pepper
- a few cauliflower florets
- 2 zucchini
- piece of eggplant
- 4 tbsp tomatoes in juice or diluted tomato paste,
- 1 tbsp olive oil,
- salt and pepper to taste,
- 1 tsp paprika.
There are two types of cornmeal for polenta: classic and instant. Boil the polenta until tender, as directed on the package. The flour is poured into boiling salted water and boiled, stirring, until thickened.
While the polenta is cooking, let's start with the vegetables. Cut the onion and carrot into small cubes.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onions and carrots in it.
When the onion becomes translucent, add finely chopped cauliflower and diced sweet pepper. Cover the vegetables with a lid.
At this stage, add tomatoes to the vegetables in juice or tomato paste so that the vegetables are stewed in it and do not burn. Simmer vegetables for five minutes.
For now, cut the zucchini and eggplant into small cubes.
After five minutes, put the zucchini and eggplant in the pan, season the vegetables with salt, pepper and sweet paprika. Stir, simmer the vegetables under the lid for another 5 minutes, that is, until half cooked.
Pour the finished polenta (half) into a rectangular mold lined with baking paper. The polenta should be hot, fresh off the fire. So it is still liquid and it is convenient to work with it.
Quickly spread the vegetable filling on the polenta and smooth with a spoon.
Pour the other half of the hot polenta over the vegetables, completely covering the filling. Level the surface if necessary. You can drizzle a puff pastry of vegetables with olive oil.
We send the polenta to the oven to bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees. During this time, the vegetables will become soft and the polenta more dense. The surface of the casserole will brown slightly. You will definitely like this polenta with vegetables, the classic recipe with a step-by-step photo is very simple, so everyone can cook this delicious casserole.
Let the polenta cool slightly before cutting it into portions. Serve warm.
Hot, bright, hearty, polenta is the perfect dish for a quick lunch or dinner. Cold polenta is also very tasty - it can be cut into slices and fried like cheesecakes or french fries, baked with vegetables, mushrooms, cheese. Polenta also makes amazing desserts. We tell you how to master recipes with cornmeal.
Polenta is a cornmeal dish native to Northern Italy. He is especially loved in Venice. Italian cornmeal is also called polenta (Italian: polenta). Most often in stores you can find yellow and white polenta. There is also yellow-red (from a variety of red corn) and black (Italian. polenta nera), which is obtained from buckwheat, sometimes with the addition of chestnut. Polenta is made not only from corn flour, but also from wheat, barley and legumes ground into flour.
How to receive
Corn grains are ground with stone millstones - in this way they retain the shell and germ of the grains rich in valuable substances, unlike polished corn flour. The size of the grains varies depending on the variety of corn - from 0.3 mm to 1 mm. The shape of the grains can be spherical or irregular in shape. The coarser the grind, the better the taste of polenta and the nicer the texture.
Classic recipe
In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring 600 ml water, 150 ml milk and ½ tsp. salt. Whisking constantly, add corn flour (150 g), passing it through your fingers - the trick of Italian grandmothers, thanks to which it is possible to avoid lumps. Stir 1-2 minutes until the polenta thickens. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring every 4 to 5 minutes, until the polenta begins to pull away from the sides of the pot, 35 to 45 minutes. Stir in a slice of butter and a handful of grated Parmesan and serve immediately. You can put slices of mushrooms (100g), cherry tomatoes (150g) and feta cheese (100g) on top. Send to the oven or under a hot grill for 10-12 minutes. Remove, let cool for a couple of minutes, garnish with fresh herbs and serve. A sweet option for breakfast is to mix maple or grape syrup and honey into polenta instead of cheese.
How else to cook
Ready polenta hardens quickly - it can be cut into slices and fried, baked with vegetables (bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, onions, zucchini), mushrooms, cheese. If you use round molds, you get "cheesecakes" from polenta.
Difference between polenta and hominy
Both varieties of cereals are obtained from, but the varieties of corn are different, depending on the region. In addition, the difference in taste and texture depends on how many times the beans are ground and how fine the grind is. Italian polenta, unlike hominy, is more “crunchy”, because it is obtained from corn, which retains the texture of the final dish better.
What to look for on the package
The label should contain the words “coarse flour” (Italian bramata), cooking time - 40 minutes. And also "stone-ground" - English. "ground with stone millstones." Instant polenta (eng. instant polenta, ital. lampo) - boiled and dried again - is prepared in 5-10 minutes. It has a mild taste and a liquid texture. The package might just say "cornmeal" or "polenta" - it doesn't matter.
Gluten
In theory, polenta is supposed to be gluten-free, but on an industrial scale, it is produced on the same equipment as gluten-containing products, so manufacturers admit that polenta may contain traces of gluten.
Corn Italian porridge, which has gained fame around the world, is called polenta. Having received recognition in northern Italy, the dish became popular in Slovenia, Serbia, Moldova, etc. Polenta is universal: it is served with cheese, meat, berries, fruits. Depending on the recipe, the dish can be served both for breakfast and for a family dinner as a main course or instead of dessert.
What is polenta
A dish of Italian cuisine, polenta is a porridge made from crushed corn grains, which is in demand not only in its native country. It is common in the northern regions of Italy: in Lombardy, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the Italian cantons in Switzerland. In other countries, polenta has a different name: for Slovenia it is “zhgantsy”, for Dalmatia it is “pulenta”, for Serbia it is “kachamak”, for Moldova it is “mamalyga”.
polenta recipes
Initially, cereals were added to a deep large copper cauldron without dressing, served as food for the poor population of Italy. Later, improved recipes appeared with the addition of mushrooms (mushrooms, shiitake), cheese, meat (chicken fillet), vegetables (there is a recipe with tomatoes and celery) and seafood (shrimp). The versatility of polenta is that it can be served hot or cold, savory, sweet, creamy, hard or soft.
Classic recipe
- Time: 50 minutes.
- Number of servings: 6 persons.
- Calories: 105.9 kcal.
- Purpose: for breakfast, for an afternoon snack, for children.
- Cuisine: Italian.
- Difficulty: easy.
Classic Italian cornmeal polenta is a thick porridge served without additional flavoring ingredients: no cheese, meat, seafood, etc. You can cook a dish for breakfast, afternoon tea or to please your family for no reason. The advantages of corn grits include versatility: you can serve it seasoned with salt or sugar, cold or hot, it all depends on your taste preferences.
Ingredients:
- water - 1 liter;
- coarse corn grits - 250 grams;
- salt - 1 teaspoon;
- butter - 50 grams.
Cooking method:
- For cooking, you need a pan with thick walls made of copper or cast iron, or a cauldron. If such a device is not in use, an ordinary pan with a thick bottom, into which water is poured, will do.
- Boiling water should be salted, pour in corn grits, stirring with a wooden spoon.
- Reduce the heat to a minimum, cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring the mixture constantly. The polenta will begin to separate from the sides and bottom of the pot.
- When the mixture turns into a homogeneous mass, put it on a cutting board, shape it into a square with a spatula, cool.
- The frozen polenta can be cut into pieces and served with melted butter on top.
With cheese
- Time: 1 hour 10 minutes.
- Servings: 4 persons.
- Calories: 368.7 kcal.
- Purpose: side dish for lunch, dinner.
- Cuisine: Italian.
- Difficulty: easy.
Corn polenta with cheeses is suitable for lunch and dinner as a main course or side dish. The dish can be served hot or cold. Use vegetable or meat broth instead of water for richer flavor. Cooking does not take much time. The hostesses wait longer for the mixture to harden. You can not spend time on this, but immediately divide the porridge in portions. The taste will not change from this, but the aesthetic presentation will.
Ingredients:
- water - 0.5 liters;
- three types of cheese: creamy (processed), blue, hard - 200, 100, 100 grams;
- greens (dill, parsley) - to taste;
- salt - to taste;
- butter - 50 grams;
- thyme - 0.5 teaspoon.
Cooking method:
- Boil water or broth in a saucepan with thick walls and bottom, add salt, cornmeal. Stir until thickened. If desired, grated cheese can be added five minutes before removing the grits from the heat.
- Pour the mixture into a baking dish, greased with butter, smooth over the surface. Wait until it cools completely, then cut the polenta into pieces.
- While the porridge is cooling, mash the blue cheese with a fork, add the herbs, thyme and cream cheese. Stir the mixture until smooth.
- Place baking paper on a baking sheet, place polenta on it, grease it with a mixture of cheeses. Cover each slice with cheese with another piece (second layer).
- Grate hard cheese on top and bake for 15 minutes in the oven at 190 degrees until a crust appears.
On milk
- Time: 30 minutes.
- Servings: 7 persons.
- Calories: 152 kcal.
- Purpose: for breakfast.
- Cuisine: Italian.
- Difficulty: medium.
Milk-based cornmeal polenta is soft, creamy and tender. Porridge will delight you with a pleasant taste for breakfast, especially if served with toppings or jam. The set of ingredients is similar to the classic polenta with the addition of milk. How to serve corn porridge in an original way: cut out figures (circles, stars, hearts, etc.) from the hardened mixture and pour milk over them.
Ingredients:
- water - 0.75 liters;
- milk - to taste;
- salt - to taste;
- sugar - to taste;
- butter - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Pour water into a saucepan, bring it to a boil and season with salt. Reduce heat to low, carefully add corn grits.
- Boil for 20-30 minutes, stirring constantly. When the cereal becomes soft, add milk and continue cooking. Determine the density of the future dish yourself: if you like thick coarse cereals, then wait for complete thickening, if not, remove a little earlier.
- When the cereal is ready, put sugar and a piece of butter in it, cover with a lid for 5 minutes.
- Roll out the finished cereal on a flat surface, cut out figures from it with a knife or special molds. Next, you should wait until the decorations have cooled and hardened and pour them with milk.
With mushrooms
- Time: 50 minutes.
- Servings: 4 persons.
- Calories: 545 kcal.
- Destination: dinner, family lunch.
- Cuisine: Italian.
- Difficulty: medium.
Polenta with mushrooms can be enjoyed at home for dinner or lunch for the whole family. For this, it is better to use portion molds or clay pots. For a bright taste, before serving, the dish can be seasoned with chopped parsley, and various sauces (garlic, tomato) can be put on the table. Before putting mushrooms on top, in the summer you can fry the tortilla on the grill, and in the winter in the pan.
Ingredients:
- water - 0.75 liters;
- corn grits - 330 grams;
- dried mushrooms - 15 grams;
- shiitake mushrooms - 225 grams;
- champignons - 225 grams;
- olive oil - 1 tablespoon;
- vegetable oil - 1 tablespoon;
- butter - 30 grams;
- onion head - 1 pc.;
- marjoram - to taste;
- fresh finely chopped oregano - 1 teaspoon.
Cooking method:
- Pour boiling water over dried mushrooms and leave them to infuse for 30 minutes. Finely chop the shiitake mushrooms and champignons, removing the legs and washing them in advance.
- Place a frying pan over medium heat, fry the onion in olive oil.
- Remove the bow. To the remaining olive oil in the pan, add the butter and vegetable oils. Saute mushrooms (except dry), ground pepper and oregano in the mixture for 10 minutes. All this time, the products must be stirred.
- Drain and filter the liquid from the dried mushrooms, leaving 175 ml. Wash mushrooms and chop.
- Add the onion back to the pan, put the dried mushrooms to it, pour in the liquid from under them. Remove from heat after one minute after boiling.
- Cook porridge: add cornmeal to boiling salted water. Stir and cook until thick. Put the cereal in a mold, let cool.
- Cut the porridge into pieces, put mushroom stew and marjoram on each. Garnish with oregano.
In a slow cooker
- Time: 70 minutes.
- Servings: 2 persons.
- Calories: 105.9 kcal.
- Purpose: breakfast, lunch.
- Cuisine: Italian.
- Difficulty: easy.
In a slow cooker, classic polenta porridge is cooked easier and easier than on fire. Corn tortilla can be made for breakfast, served for dinner instead of bread, as the Italians do, or after cooking, add vegetables (such as peeled tomatoes, carrots or paprika) and enjoy as a separate dish. To prepare polenta in a slow cooker, two modes are used: cooking and baking.
Ingredients:
- water - 0.75 liters;
- corn grits - 330 grams;
- butter - 30 grams;
- parmesan cheese - 30 grams;
- salt - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Rinse the corn grits in cold water, then pat dry.
- Put the porridge in the multicooker bowl, fill it with water. Add salt to taste and a small piece of butter to the cereal. Close the lid of the multicooker and cook in the appropriate mode for 50 minutes until cooked.
- After the cooking process is completed, sprinkle the surface of dense porridge with grated parmesan. Close the lid and bake the porridge in the desired mode for 10 minutes.
- Serve the dish with fresh vegetables.
with pumpkin
- Time: 40 minutes.
- Servings: 4 persons.
- Calories: 133 kcal.
- Cuisine: Italian.
- Difficulty: easy.
Polenta with pumpkin can please children for breakfast or serve as a dessert for an afternoon snack. In winter, porridge will help fill the body with vitamins and nutrients. Bright orange color cheers up, "warms" and mentally brings the onset of spring. The groats are soft, tender, sweetish in taste, which will appeal to both children and adults with a sweet tooth.
Ingredients:
- water - 0.6 liters;
- corn grits - 200 grams;
- butter - 40 grams;
- pumpkin - 100 grams;
- sage - 5 grams;
- parmesan - 100 grams;
- salt - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Rinse corn grits, pour in water, salt.
- While stirring, bring the porridge to a boil over medium heat.
- Set the fire to a minimum, cook the porridge, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
- Add pumpkin puree with sage, cook for 15 minutes until the porridge begins to move away from the walls.
- Remove porridge from heat, add parmesan and butter.
- Serve hot.
with spinach
- Time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Number of servings: 6 persons.
- Calories: 361 kcal.
- Purpose: lunch, dinner.
- Cuisine: Italian.
- Difficulty: easy.
There are two types of spinach polenta recipe: vegetarian and non-vegetarian. For the second option, you will find bacon in the list of ingredients, but you can do without it. The dish can be served hot or cold for lunch or dinner. Prepare the polenta in advance in advance, and when it's time to serve lunch or dinner to the table, just heat the porridge in the oven.
Ingredients:
- water - 1 liter;
- corn grits - 330 grams;
- eggs - 4 pcs.;
- butter - 10 grams;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- spinach - 1 bunch;
- cheese - 100 grams;
- milk - 50 grams;
- bacon - 2 pieces;
- vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons;
- smoked brisket - 200 grams;
- salt - to taste;
- pepper - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Cut the onion and brisket into small cubes. Fry the ingredients in vegetable oil for 5 minutes until the onions are soft.
- Add the chopped spinach to the pan, stir for 30 seconds to loosen the spinach a little. Remove ingredients from heat.
- Boil the polenta.
- While the porridge is cooking, mix eggs, milk. Whisk the ingredients.
- Add shredded cheese, bacon, onion and spinach to mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Lubricate the baking dish with butter, lay out the porridge, fill it with the mixture. Bake for 30-40 minutes. 10 minutes before cooking, sprinkle with cheese, let it brew in the oven.
- Cut the slightly cooled polenta into pieces. You can serve the dish to the table.
With shrimps
- Time: 80 minutes.
- Servings: 4 persons.
- Calories: 330 kcal.
- Purpose: lunch, dinner.
- Cuisine: Italian.
- Difficulty: difficult.
Shrimp polenta is a truly royal dish. It can be served on the table not only for a family lunch or dinner. Shrimp porridge will be on the table for a holiday, for example, as an independent hot dish for a birthday, anniversary or Christmas. Cooking porridge will take a little time and culinary skills. But the guests will be satisfied with the unusual taste, they will ask for supplements.
Ingredients:
- cornmeal - 250 grams;
- cheddar cheese - 50 grams;
- butter - 40 grams;
- grated parmesan - 30 grams;
- vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons;
- bacon - 4 pieces;
- medium peeled shrimp - 30 pieces;
- champignons - 6 pieces;
- garlic - 1 clove;
- lemons - 1 piece;
- chicken broth - 100 ml;
- Tabasco sauce - 1 teaspoon;
- green onions - 4 stalks;
- salt - to taste;
- black pepper - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Bring four cups of water to a gentle boil. Add cornmeal, stirring water, cook for half an hour.
- Stir in the grated cheddar, parmesan, and 20 grams of butter. Salt, pepper, cover.
- Heat the pan, add the bacon in small cubes, fry for 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon. Leave the rendered fat in the pan.
- Salt the shrimp, pepper, put in a pan. Fry for 2 minutes, during which time turn over once. Transfer to a platter.
- Throw thinly sliced mushrooms into the pan. Simmer, stirring, for five minutes, add chopped garlic, cook for another minute. Pour in the broth, let the liquid boil by a third.
- Put back the shrimp, add a tablespoon of lemon juice, oil, Tabasco sauce. Cook for another minute.
- Arrange the food on plates, put the shrimp on top. Sprinkle each serving with bacon and chopped onions.
Polenta sweet
- Time: 30 minutes.
- Servings: 2 persons.
- Calories: 170 kcal.
- Purpose: breakfast, afternoon snack.
- Cuisine: Italian.
- Difficulty: easy.
You can diversify the taste of Italian polenta not only with cheese, spinach, shrimp or bacon. If you are a sweet lover, you can make a dish with berries and fruits, season porridge with sugar instead of salt or peanut butter instead of Tabasco sauce. Useful properties of polenta allow you to replace it with the famous morning oatmeal. The sweet taste will appeal to both children and adults.
Ingredients:
- cornmeal - 100 grams;
- water - 0.5 ml;
- apple - 1 pc.;
- peanut butter - 1 tbsp. l.;
- raisins - a handful to taste;
- berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries) - a handful to taste;
- cinnamon - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Pour the cornmeal into a saucepan, cover with water, stirring, bring to a boil.
- Add chopped apple, raisins. Continue to cook for 7-8 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to a minimum, put the peanut butter, mix the porridge.
- Put in a bowl, garnish with berries and cinnamon.
How and with what to serve
Polenta can be served as a main course or side dish, baked or fried as a substitute for bread. Porridge is combined with complex culinary delights (Burgundy beef, fish dishes, such as cod), sauces. Italians prepare garlic sauce in butter with the addition of herbs (parsley, dill). The Italians serve the dish like this: they heat up pieces of porridge, decorate it with feta cubes and slices of pickled cucumbers.
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