The idea of stirring a hot, bubbling cauldron of polenta on the stove-top while the rest of your dinner requires your attention just doesn’t make sense. This is a brilliant solution by private chef Sabrina on her website Dinner Then Dessert. She had a client who wanted polenta with almost every meal, so she came up with this simple, hands-off preparation. I was worried it would be lumpy without the stirring, but it’s smooth,creamy and so delicious. It takes about 5 minutes to put together and then 50 minutes in the oven. She adds sharp cheddar cheese (which I will try next) but I used Parmesan and it was perfect with my short ribs.
The tip she added which I loved, was that everyone prefers the inexpensive yellow cornmeal over the coarse ground specialty polenta. So there’s 10 bucks you can put towards a bottle of wine!
6 cups water
1 1/2 cups polenta or yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk
3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (or Parmesan)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add 6 cups of water into a Dutch oven. Stir in the polenta, salt, pepper and butter into the water. Bake uncovered 40 minutes. Add in the cream/milk, cheese, and stir to combine. Bake for an additional ten minutes, stir, and serve immediately garnishing with more cheese if desired. 8 Servings.
Note: I needed 12 servings, so made 1 1/2 times the recipe. I was worried about the timing with the extra liquid, so heated it on the stove top before placing in the oven. Turned out perfectly.
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