Pass the Polenta, Please!

As is often the case, a nation of people will separate themselves as a distinct culture by their traditional foods. For Italians, it always seems both pasta and pizza are the cornerstones of what makes Italian food "Italian". However, there is a staple food of Northern Italy that does not get the recognition it deserves, but easily makes up the third aspect of the Italian food trinity: humble, yet versatile and satisfying. That food is polenta. Italian cuisine has been characterized by being the food of the peasant and just as poor Southern Italians worked the fields nourished by pasta, Northern Italians managed to survive on little more than polenta for centuries. In this way, polenta is truly an Italian national dish, and has a history much more ancient than either pizza or pasta.

Some people have nicknamed polenta, calling it "Italian grits". And, in their defense, there are commonalities to the hominy grits that is so prevalent in the Southern United States. In this way polenta, grits and other "mush" type foods share a common link as the food of poverty. However in ancient times, what would later be called polenta started out as one of the earliest and simplest foods made from many grains. Made from wild grains and later from primitive wheat, faro (a popular Italian grain), millet, spelt, chickpeas or chestnut, the grain was mixed with water to form a paste that was then cooked on a hot stone. In this way, early polenta may have pre-dated leavened bread, since yeasts were often hard to come by and milling techniques were not yet refined.

History of Polenta

In Roman times, polenta (or as they knew it, pulmentum) was the staple of the mighty Roman Legions and would eat it in either a porridge or in a hard cake like form, much like today. By this time, milling techniques had greatly improved and the course grind favored for pulmentum had mostly been replaced by farina, a flour. However even though bread was widely available in Ancient Rome, the legions and the poor alike preferred the simplicity and tastiness of their early polenta. For the next few centuries, nothing changed in the history of polenta, much like the living conditions of those who ate it most - the peasantry. However things would slowly improve for polenta, if not the peasantry - the first was the introduction of buckwheat into Italy by the Saracens.

This nutritive grain - known as grano saraceno is still popular in Tuscany for making polenta near and adds a distinctive flavor that was widely favored for centuries. Buckwheat polenta would eventually fall out of favor when a crop from the New World arrived in Italy sometime in the 15th or 16th centuries known as maize. The new crop was a perfect match for the farms of Northern Italy, where landowners could grow vast fields of corn for profit, while forcing the peasantry to subsist on cornmeal. This new form of polenta was abundant, but seriously lacking in nutrients compared to earlier forms of the dish.

However cornmeal polenta is very tasty and filling, and therefore continued to be a staple long after conditions improved for the poor. Amazingly, this simple act of greed on the part of landowners helped shape a major component of Italian cooking. From then on most of Italy's polenta consumption was made from corn, which ranges in color from golden yellow to the Veneto's white polenta. (http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/polenta.asp)

My father is Northern Italian and loves polenta. My Mother is Neapolitan, from central Italy, and she doesn’t like polenta. Consequently, I never had polenta until I was grown and decided to try it on my own. (My Dad eats what my Mom cooks. No questions asked.) Polenta became a staple in my home when my boys were toddlers. I could serve it like mush with Parmesan cheese or in the shape of “sticks” for dipping into Marinara or Red Pepper Sauce. Once solid it could be frozen, grilled, broiled or pan-fried. And polenta was very flexible, allowing me to add all kinds of ingredients to make it more of a meal and portable. I hope this inspires you to try an ancient, peasant food that with one taste will show you why it’s lasted as long as it has. Mangia!

Basic, Soft Polenta

3 cups of salted, boiling liquid (water, milk or stock with about 2 teaspoons of salt)
1 cup of polenta cornmeal (Cornmeal ground especially for polenta)
½ cup parmesan cheese (optional)

Pour cornmeal into boiling stock (or water) slowly while stirring briskly with a whisk. Cook and stir until polenta starts to thicken. When it starts to thicken, lower the heat. Continue to lower the heat as the polenta continues to thicken. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese until melted and serve.

Leftover polenta can be poured into a flat tray, covered and refrigerated. It will be good for 4 days. Then as needed, cut the polenta into squares or rectangles. When reheating, lightly coat each side of the polenta squares or sticks with olive oil and bake them at 375 degrees until a golden crust forms.

If you do not have polenta cornmeal, cooking time will increase depending on the coarseness of the cornmeal you do have. Fine grind cornmeals cook anywhere from 5-15 minutes. Medium grind cornmeal takes 30-45 minutes. Coarsely ground cornmeal will up to an hour. Try not to cook the cornmeal to fast, as it will get gummy. But if you undercook it, it will taste of raw corn flour.

Polenta “Fries”

Leftover polenta can be poured into a flat tray, covered and refrigerated. It will be good for 4 days. Then as needed, cut the polenta into rectangles. When reheating, lightly coat each side of the polenta squares or sticks with olive oil and bake them at 375 degrees until a golden crust forms. Serve these polenta fries as a side alone or with dipping sauces such as marinara, ranch dressing, salsa and red pepper sauce. It’s a great finger food for small children and it’s portable. Just put them in a Dixie cup and they can eat them in the car;-)

Polenta Cutlets

2 cups of salted, boiling liquid (water or stock with about 2 teaspoons of salt)
1 cup of cornmeal, medium grind will give you more texture than a fine grind polenta.
½ cup onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
½ teaspoon of salt
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed), chopped
8 black olives, pitted and chopped (optional)
¼ cup of grated parmesan or mozzarella cheese

Sauté the onion and garlic with salt in olive oil on medium heat for about 10 minutes. The onions should be golden. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and the olives. Cook for additional 3 minutes. Add cornmeal to this mixture and stir until the mixture is dry, about 1 minute.

Slowly pour in the stock or water or stock and stir briskly until polenta thickens. Simmer, stirring frequently, until the polenta is creamy. (You’re making thick polenta but not too thick that it can’t be poured.) Pour polenta onto an oiled baking pan to about ¾ inch thickness.
Spread with a rubber spatula for even thickness. Set aside to cool for about 20 minutes. It will continue to thicken as it cools.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
With a knife, cut the polenta into squares, rectangles, and diamonds or use a cookie cutter to make other shapes. (Really fun with little kids;-) Transfer each cutlet to another lightly oiled baking pan, placing them about an inch apart. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn over with a spatula, top with cheese and bake for additional 5 minutes. Top with Red Pepper Sauce or Marinara or Sunday Gravy. My grandmother (Dad’s Mom) topped her polenta with Chicken Cacciatore. Oh, yum!!

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut in half
1 garlic clove
¼ cup of Olive oil plus more to coat pepper
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried dill
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly-coat seeded peppers in olive oil. Roast in oven for 30 minutes, turning once after 15 minutes have passed. Remove and allow peppers to cool so you can handle them. Pepper skins can easily be pulled off now that it has been roasted. Discard the skins.

Place the peeled, roasted peppers in a blender or food processor with ¼ cup of olive oil, garlic, vinegar and dill. Puree until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature, either in small dipping cups or as a sauce over soft polenta or cutlets.