Polenta, the all-rounder
The first time Marjan Ippel was going to eat polenta in the Alps above Milan, she couldn’t get a bite down. All thanks to the driving style of her Milanese host in his fiery little Fiat. And that’s a shame. Because polenta is the dark horse of Italian cuisine.
After a winding race at 120 km/h to the top of an Alpine mountain high above Milan, I no longer wanted to think about polenta when I arrived at the rustic Alpine hut restaurant. I couldn’t think about polenta anymore.
Unknown
It was only much later that I realized what a shame that was. Because, after all, we were sitting in the best polenta restaurant in the area, as my host repeatedly emphasized.
In the end, things worked out between polenta and me. And I find it incomprehensible that this Northern Italian classic and all-rounder is so little known outside Italy. Apart from in neighboring areas such as Slovenia and Ticino.
Easy
When I want something easy, but not rice or couscous, I grill vegetables. Add a piece of chicken, veal or a poached egg, plus a generous scoop of polenta, finished with good olive oil.
But what is polenta? A traditional Northern Italian dish made from dried cornmeal or the coarser, more flavorful corn grits. You make the base by pouring the meal into boiling water and cooking it into a thick porridge for about an hour, stirring well.
Mountain cheese
The simplest and perhaps most traditional way to eat it is to stir mountain cheese into the porridge and add a knob of butter on top. 100 percent comfort food.
But that’s when things really get fun. Because you can also shape that same firm porridge into fries or cookies, then bake or deep-fry them. You can use it spread out as a pizza base. Make lasagna with it. Polenta croquettes. Bruschette with burrata and tomatoes. Or use it to stuff large poblano peppers.
If you like sweet things, make a polenta cake with lemon glaze and crushed pistachios or hazelnuts. Or top the cake with thin caramelized slices of orange. You can bake waffles with it. Or make a dessert with chestnut purée and fresh figs.
All-rounder
So polenta really is an all-rounder. And it’s gluten-free, too. One day I’ll return to that Alpine hut. But without that hot-blooded little Fiat. Or its driver.
Get started yourself with this polenta crisp with strawberry and rhubarb. Or this soft polenta for one by Janneke Vreugdenhil.
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