Polenta

Modern polenta is a thick porridge made with cornmeal. I used to find it bland and tasteless until I discovered that cooking it with milk instead of water, makes all the difference.

It is easy to make large quantities of polensa;  remember that when you cook 1 measure of polenta corn meal; you get 4 times the volume of the finished polenta.

Basic polenta serves 4:

• 100 gr fast cooking corn meal or polenta
• 250 ml milk
• 250ml water
• Salt, pepper
• 30 gr butter
• 50gr grated Parmesan cheese
  

Heat the water and milk together in a pan until it comes to a boil, pour in 100 gr approximately of polenta and stir vigorously to avoid lumps, the mass will start thickening very quickly. Mix the butter and Parmesan into the polenta; taste and add more milk, butter or salt to your requirements.

Cooking ideas:
Dry Polenta
Make a very thick polenta and spread it over a greased plate, leave it to cool completely, cut into segments and treat as you would gnocchi (see gnocchi) or shallow-fry to serve with steak.

Wet Polenta
Make a loose polenta with the consistency of mash by adding more milk or cream, and use it to serve with sausages or a meat sauce (see Meat ragú)

Pizza Polenta
For a different take on Pizza.
Cook 100gr Polenta to a fairly thick consistency, spread over a greased pizza sheet. Spoon 3 tbsp tomato sauce over the base; arrange mozzarella cheese and a few bacon rashers cut into strips on top of the tomato, add dried or fresh oregano; and bake for 20 minutes in the oven.