Polenta

I love Southern food and one of my favorite things to eat is Grits smothered in butter, salt, and pepper and topped with a poached egg. So it’s no wonder that I love Polenta. Made of fine ground corn meal (course ground is also available) this creamy comfort food is a perfect substitute for mashed potatoes or rice. I usually use quick cooking Polenta but there is no substitute for the slow cooked and version that takes 45 minutes to 1 hour of almost constant stirring. But with the right care, the quick cooking Polenta can be just as creamy and satisfying.

The best thing about Polenta is how versatile it is. Once cooked you can serve it immediately topped with any meat/gravy combination, a mushroom ragu, some crumbled bleu cheese, grilled sausages and peppers, roasted vegetables, butter and maple syrup for breakfast, the possibilities are endless. Or you can pour the Polenta onto a greased sheet pan and spread it out then let it cool to set up. Cut it into squares, triangles, rounds, or any shape you want with a cookie cutter. It can now be grilled or baked and served with anything. I love to cut it into about 1 ½ inch squares and grill them then top them with sundried tomato pesto and fresh basil and serve at room temperature.

For quick cooking Polenta bring 4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock to the boil over high heat, turn the heat to medium-high and slowly whisk in 1 cup of quick cooking Polenta. Continue to stir for 3 minutes. Then take it off the heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter and ¼ cup heavy cream or ½ & ½, and any fresh chopped herbs you like. Add ¼ - ½ cup of cheese if you like. Season with salt & pepper and serve. The other night I used a combo of fresh basil & fresh rosemary because that’s what I had in the house and about ¼ cup fresh grated Romano cheese. This makes enough for 6-8 servings making it very cost effective.

A fun thing to do is to pour the cooked Polenta into a deep dish pizza pan and top it as you would a pizza then bake it. Cut into pizza slices and serve. Kids love this.

For tons of awesome Polenta recipes go to www.FoodNetwork.com or just go buy some quick cooking Polenta and play with it. You’ll come up with lots of uses for this simple peasant food.