Polenta
Polenta. Creamy, cheesy polenta is the ideal accompaniment–sopping up the delicious juices and tempering some of the heat. Giada De Laurentiis Shares How She Makes Polenta Video Polenta mixture should still be slightly loose.
Ingredients
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It’s 500 g of polenta (make sure it’s not the quick cooking kind but the real corn flour one)
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Prepare 2 l of water
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Prepare 1/2 handful of rock salt
Steps
- I bought mine in Italy but they sell them in lost places. Add the water into a big pot with the salt. If you have a cast iron or a copper pot it’s even better..
- When it’s hot but not quite boiling yet start adding the polenta slowly and keeping on mixing it with a whisk. It’s essential to use a whisk either manual or electric as otherwise it will get lumpy..
- When you are done adding the polenta cover it and leave it on a small very low fire for 40 min mixing only every now and then (day every 10 min or so). Polenta will stick to the pot so don’t worry about that, in fact that crusty burnt bit is the best part..
- After the 40 minutes comes the manual bit, we now need to keep on stirring for the last 10 min. Polenta would have got much more dense so it’a a bit of gym now. Serve hot.
Pour in polenta steadily, stirring constantly. Continue to stir until polenta is thickened. It should come away from sides of the pan, and be able to support a spoon. Polenta is basically cornmeal mush, and it can be made with any kind of cornmeal, ground coarse, medium or fine (You don't need bags marked "polenta.") As with most ingredients, though, the better the cornmeal you start with, the better your result in the kitchen The trick is cooking the polenta for a sufficient amount of time Polenta's grits-like consistency comes from boiling cornmeal in water. Once your polenta is ready, it can be baked, grilled, fried, or served as a creamy addition to any course.
