The delicious truth about polenta - includes recipes and related article

Sunset, March, 1995 by Christine Weber Hale

Polenta made of cornmeal ground the Italian way is inviting unadorned, yet in the hands of a creative cook, it is like an artist's canvas--immensely appealing used as the background for other foods.

Polenta can be soft, creamy, and fluid, or dense, firm, and shaped. It can be prepared quickly or simmer away slowly. It can quell the heartiest appetites, yet be delicate and sophisticated in an elegant presentation. It is lean enough to be classified low-fat, yet tastes deceptively rich.

As an added virtue, polenta is very forgiving. When you understand how it cooks, you can control it and get the results you want.

To start, consider the ingredient itself. Polenta means mush in Italian and can be made from several foods, including chestnut meal and buckwheat. We know it best made from ground dried corn. You can buy polenta as a fine, medium, or coarse meal; regular cornmeal is ground even finer. If the polenta grind isn't specified, it's most likely medium.

Purists cook polenta in water; others use all or part broth for flavor and often add wine and other seasonings.

When polenta cooks, the bits of ground corn soften as they absorb the hot liquid and swell. Once the raw starchy flavor is gone, within a quarter of an hour, polenta is ready to eat, but additional cooking makes the corn granules softer and the mixture thicker. Fine-ground polenta cooks most quickly and has the smoothest texture; coarse-ground retains the most texture, even with long cooking.

The amount of liquid used determines how soft or stiff the polenta will be--use more liquid for creamy (3 to 4 cups for each 1 cup polenta), less for firm (about 2 cups for each 1 cup polenta). Should you misjudge and the polenta is too soupy, just cook it longer to thicken it--some liquid will evaporate. If the polenta is stiffer than you want, simply mix in more liquid and continue to cook. Really thick polenta will hold the stirring spoon upright. No matter what you do, polenta thickens as it cools.

The traditional Italian method for cooking polenta is to whisk or stir it into boiling liquid, followed by about an hour of stirring and simmering. Because polenta spatters, and burns when it sticks, it's not only easier but also safer to mix it with cold liquid, stir it often as it heats to boiling, then simmer until the starchiness is replaced by a mellow taste. A long-handled spoon is fine, but a whisk works best to prevent lumps.

Besides the various grinds of yellow cornmeal, polenta also comes in other forms and flavors. For details, see "Polenta spin-offs," page 128.

You don't need to move far from the basics to have winning polenta dishes. Here are three recipes that make use of polenta in various forms: soft and layered with cheese (the way Alice Guslani of Los Altos Hills, California, makes it), firm, and precooked. We also include tips for cooking polenta for a crowd.

Soft Polenta with Two Cheeses

To control spattering, use a large pan like the one specified in the directions.

2 cups polenta
3 cups water
  cups regular-strength
  chicken broth
3/4 pound teleme cheese,
  thinly sliced
  About 1 cup (1/4 lb.)
  shredded parmesan
  cheese
  Fresh coarsely ground
  pepper
  Extra-virgin olive oil or
  olive oil flavored with
  basil, chili, or another
  choice (optional)
  Salt

Polenta with wheat germ. Wheat germ contributes its toasty flavor and a pleasant, chewy bite to regular or instant polenta. It's as adaptable as plain polenta.

White polenta. Dried white corn, finely ground, gives polenta a milder flavor than yellow corn. Our tasters felt it tasted like hominy grits. Serve it as a pleasant alternative to steamed rice or mashed potatoes.