Raw material for polenta. Italian corn porridge

Polenta is a dish, the name of which has been heard by many, but probably everyone has tried it, but not everyone knows about it. Polenta is called crushed corn grains, and also a dish of Italian cuisine, in fact, polenta is a corn porridge made from crushed grains. It seems to be an ordinary porridge that we all ate in childhood, why suddenly it became a masterpiece of Italian culinary art? To answer this question, let's turn to history. Polenta has been known since the 16th century, when corn was brought from America to Europe, then it became widespread and became the favorite food of peasants. Polenta was cooked soft, hard, cut into pieces, baked or fried, new dishes appeared, based on corn porridge, and gradually polenta won the hearts of Italian gourmets. Polenta and dishes based on it reached their peak in popularity at the end of the 20th century, going beyond the borders of Italy, this dish turned into an exquisite dish that has become an adornment of many restaurant menus.

Polenta in its pure form, that is, just corn porridge in a cafe or restaurant is now unlikely to be found, it is served with meat or mushroom sauces, cheeses and vegetables are added. Polenta is a versatile dish, it tastes good both cold and hot, it can be sweet or salty, hard or soft, grainy or tender and creamy. Cooking polenta is a long and laborious process that requires constant stirring during cooking. Some shops offer "instant" polenta, ie. semi-finished product, for the preparation of which a minimum of effort and time is required. But the most delicious and correct polenta will be obtained only by those who cook it themselves in a deep copper frying pan or cauldron with a rounded bottom, constantly stirring with a wooden spatula with a long handle.

Polenta is truly a favorite dish of Italians, because if they did not love, they would not arrange a holiday in his honor. A grandiose culinary celebration annually takes place in the small town of Sermoneta, where from the very morning large copper cauldrons are displayed on the streets, in which delicious polenta is cooked over an open fire. The holiday is accompanied by live music, contests, performances and tastings, and all this splendor ends with a hearty lunch right in the central square of the city, where everyone is offered polenta cooked in a huge copper cauldron according to the Italians' favorite recipe.

Traditionally, polenta is cooked in a deep copper kettle, coarse cornmeal, which looks like fine grits, is kneaded into the water and stirred with a wooden spoon until it thickens enough to stick to the spoon, usually after 40-60 minutes from the start of cooking. After that, the polenta is laid out in a round tray, cooled, cut into pieces and served. In this form, polenta can be an excellent side dish, but if you want to offer it as an independent dish, then you will need to take care of the sauces and the further method of preparing it. For example, after boiling, polenta can be baked in the oven with cheese and butter added, fried in butter, cut into sticks, or shaped into balls and grilled.

There are a huge number of ways to prepare polenta, as well as ways to serve it, the main thing is to choose or come up with your own, then, in addition to the usual rice, pasta and potatoes, a new low-calorie side dish or an independent dish rich in carbohydrates will appear on your table, which means not only saturating, but also giving energy. Separately, it is necessary to say about the nutrients contained in polenta. These are minerals such as potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and zinc, as well as B vitamins, E vitamins, beta-carotene and biotin. As you can see, polenta is a great example of tasty and healthy food, which means it is suitable for those who follow their figure and adhere to the principles of a healthy diet. But enough words, it's time to cook!

Polenta with vegetable and cheese sauce

Ingredients:
250 grams of corn grits,
1 l. water,
salt,
2 carrots,
1 onion head
2 cloves of garlic
80 gr. butter,
50 gr. olive oil,
2 tomatoes,
1 tbsp tomato paste
ground black pepper,
ground red pepper,
5 sprigs of cilantro,
100 grams of processed cheese
50 gr. hard cheese
1 tbsp with a heap of flour,
150 ml of milk
sweet ground paprika.

Preparation:
Before you start making polenta, make sure you have thick-walled pans, ideally copper, but a cast-iron cauldron will work as well. Pour a liter of water into the cauldron, salt and bring it to a boil. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, add the corn grits to the water, then reduce the heat and cook the polenta for about 30-40 minutes, stirring constantly. Polenta is ready when it begins to lag behind the walls and becomes viscous. Put the finished polenta on a round tray or cutting board and shape it as needed. the finished polenta is viscous, then it will not be difficult to do this.

Now, while the polenta is cooling, prepare the sauces. Peel and dice the onion, grate the carrots, place the tomatoes in boiling water for a few seconds, peel them off and cut into large cubes, finely chop the garlic and cilantro. Melt 50 grams of butter, pour olive oil to it, add onion, fry it until transparent and add carrots. Then add tomatoes, a tablespoon of tomato paste and a tablespoon of water, simmer for a few minutes, then add garlic, cilantro, salt and pepper. Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan, add flour, mix thoroughly and pour in the milk in a thin stream, without stopping stirring. When the mass boils, add the processed cheese, grate the hard cheese and add it to the sauce, bring to a boil, add paprika and salt.

Cut the polenta with culinary thread or a pizza knife, put a piece of polenta on a plate, pour with cheese sauce, add vegetable sauce and garnish with cilantro.

Ingredients:
4 things. chicken fillet,
2 tbsp olive oil,
450 gr. champignons,
4 cloves of garlic
125 ml. dry white wine
450 ml chicken broth,
2 tbsp chopped parsley,
freshly ground black pepper,
1 tbsp. wholemeal corn flour,
70 ml of milk,
2 tbsp butter,
1 tsp fresh marjoram,
salt.

Preparation:
Season the chicken fillet with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan, add the fillet and fry it over high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove the fillets from the pan. Rinse the mushrooms well and cut them into 1 cm pieces. Peel the garlic and cut each clove in half. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet, add mushrooms, garlic and salt. Cover and simmer until the mushrooms give juice, then remove the lid, increase the heat and fry the mushrooms until golden brown, then pour in the wine and wait for the liquid to evaporate, add the broth and parsley, continue cooking over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Put the fried chicken fillet with the mushrooms, cover and simmer over low heat until tender. Prepare polenta at this time. In a refractory dish with a lid, combine 3 cups of water, cornmeal, salt and pepper. Cover the dish with a lid and place in the oven at 220 degrees for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, stir and place in the oven again for 15 minutes. Add milk, butter and marjoram to the finished polenta, mix thoroughly, put on a plate, put chicken and mushrooms on top, pour over everything with sauce, garnish with parsley and serve.

Ingredients:
300 gr. corn flour
olive oil,
2 stalks of celery,
shallot,
dried oregano,
freshly ground black pepper,
a mixture of peppers,
2 tomatoes,
6 pcs. cheese for toast,
12 pitted olives,
basil leaves,
salt.

Preparation:
Pour a liter of water into the cauldron, salt and bring it to a boil. Add the cornmeal to the water, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, then reduce the heat and cook the polenta for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat, cover the cauldron with a lid, wrap with a towel and leave for 30 minutes. Chop the celery, peel and finely chop the onion and sauté everything in hot oil, add pepper and oregano. Add the resulting mixture to the polenta, cook until the liquid has completely evaporated, then transfer the polenta to a square shape and cool. Cut the cold polenta into 6 square or rectangular pieces. Dip the tomatoes in boiling water for a few seconds, remove the skin and cut into slices. Oil a baking dish, place polenta on top of it, add cheese, tomato slices and 2 olives on each piece. Bake the polenta for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. Garnish with basil when serving.

Polenta is becoming an increasingly popular and beloved dish, winning the hearts of people around the world for its neutral taste, which is perfect for meat, mushrooms, fish and vegetables. Salty, sweet, hot, cold, spicy, polenta will be equally tasty in any form, no matter how you serve it. It is worth cooking polenta at least once to make sure whether it is as good as they say about it, or maybe it will be able to surpass all your expectations, because it is not for nothing that polenta has become a masterpiece of Italian cuisine!

It is unlikely that someone will be too seduced by an invitation to dine with corn porridge or hominy, but polenta sounds tempting and sophisticated. In essence, Italian cuisine consists of simple dishes with beautiful and melodic names, characteristic of the language of the people with southern temperament and generosity. The "golden" cereal, which appeared in Europe immediately after the discovery of America, was mastered by the peoples of the Mediterranean, the Caucasus and the Balkans before anyone else. Polenta is bread, main course, and sweet pastries at the same time.

It would seem, you would think, what a miracle - corn porridge! Yes, it was not so! The simpler the composition of the dish, the more difficult it is to prepare, if you do not know what kind of cereal you need to choose, in which dish, how long and how to cook it. Let's talk in detail about these subtleties and how to cook corn porridge so that it "sounds" like Italian polenta.

Polenta - basic technological principles

Let's start by choosing corn grits. Any grits (and corn grits are also often called flour!) Has a different degree of grinding. The method of cooking and, as a result, the taste of the dish depends on the degree of grinding of the cereal. The finer the grind, the more likely it is that the cornmeal dish will be similar in consistency not to porridge, but to a cooked flour product.

Corn groats of any grind, in any case, acquire viscosity during cooking, due to the large amount of starch contained in it. The chef's task is to prevent the formation of lumps at the very first stage of cooking, and do not forget that after the liquid evaporates, the starch burns very quickly, as it contains sugar.

The conclusion is simple: it is better to undercooked porridge than to digest it. It will reach the desired consistency and softness by itself if you turn off the stove in time, cover the pan with a lid, and put it at rest for a while. The boiling point kept inside will do the trick. But be sure to cover tightly with a lid so that the water does not evaporate, but is absorbed into the cereal.

You also need to remember:

• The addition of oil when cooking any porridge makes it more crumbly. But you do not need to add oil right away, so that the particles of cereal have time to absorb water. In the case of corn grits, the addition of oil is advisable if the grits are very finely ground.
• It happens that corn grits have a heterogeneous structure. Sift it to separate coarse and small fractions, and then select what you need to prepare the dish.
• The next important question, or rather, it is - the first: to wash or not to wash the corn grits? In the event that the cereal was purchased in packaged form, you can safely skip this stage - the manufacturer is responsible for observing sanitary requirements during its manufacture.

But, if the groats were stored in large bags, and the storage conditions are unknown, it is better not to risk your health. Throw the cereal into boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then drain the water, repeat the procedure again, and then you can start cooking. Not all harmful microorganisms die at the boiling point of water, so it is better to wash them off so as not to create unnecessary health problems for yourself.

• The ratio of water to corn grits is 1: 3. If the groats were washed before cooking, then the amount of liquid should be reduced accordingly.

Now a few words, especially for the "connoisseurs" who claim to have seen how real polenta is prepared, and are very well versed in this matter:

"Polenta" - translated from Latin - barley porridge. She is also - corn porridge, with the same name in Italian cuisine, starting from the 16th century, the prototype of the ancient Roman porridge called "pulse", which was prepared from barley, millet, beans. In the cuisines of other nations, corn porridge is known as hominy, gomi, banush, ugali and other names.

But polenta in Russian is definitely corn porridge, and the general technology of its preparation is no different from other cereals, liquid or thick consistency, with the addition of milk or in water, sweet, with dried fruits, nuts and honey, or with meat, mushrooms, vegetables and cheese. Only the name "polenta" adds a little more sophistication to the dish, although the Italians themselves consider this dish the most common, without making a cult out of it.

Although, perhaps, for Italians, on the contrary, a dish called "Corn Porridge" seems more attractive, especially if it is cooked in a clay pot in the oven. There are a lot of cooking options. Choose your favorite recipes and try them for health!

Having mastered the technique of preparing the simplest, thickest porridge, you can move on to other dishes using an already prepared semi-finished product.

Ingredients:

• Water 1 l.
• Corn groats 300 gr.
• Salt to taste
• Oil (vegetable or butter) - 1 tbsp. l.

Preparation:

1. Pour cereals into boiling water, little by little. At the same time, use a spoon to rotate the water in a circle so that the cereals do not stick together.
2. It is better to salt the porridge in the middle of cooking, half-cooked.
3. To avoid clumping, add a spoonful of butter or vegetable oil to boiling water.
4. Cook over low heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, stirring occasionally. Cooking time is 20-30 minutes. It depends on the intensity of heating, as well as on the grinding of the cereal. The porridge should boil well, until soft.
5. If the cereal is already boiled enough, but has not absorbed all the water, cover the pan with a lid and let stand.
6. Transfer the warm porridge to the prepared form. Choose the size depending on what you are going to cook next. It is advisable to lubricate the form with oil so that it is easier to remove it without damaging the integrity of the mass.

Polenta of a liquid consistency is boiled by adding more water. If the porridge turns out to be too thick during cooking, add boiling water to the pan and continue to cook until tender.

Polenta with chicken, mushrooms and cheese in the oven

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast - 700 gr.
• Champignons - 500 gr.
• Tomatoes - 400 gr.
• Onions - 200 gr.
• Cheese - 250 gr.
• Butter - 120 gr.
• Refined sunflower oil - 40 ml.
• Corn grits - 250 gr.
• Water - 750 ml.
• Salt - 3 gr.
• Chicken seasoning - to taste
• Corn porridge (polenta) - 500 gr. (see basic recipe)

Preparation:

1. Cook the corn grits as detailed in the basic recipe. Transfer the warm mass to a baking sheet or into a prepared baking dish. Fill the form by ½ part of the volume, level the surface.
2. Cut the washed chicken flesh into medium-sized pieces and fry in butter until golden brown, adding spices.
3. Temporarily transfer the toasted meat to a plate, and in a skillet, in the remaining fat, sauté the coarsely diced onions.
4. To the onion, brought to transparency, add the tomatoes, cut into wedges. If you do not like the presence of tomato skin in the dish, then pre-blanch the tomatoes, remove the skin, and then chop.
5. Fry the sliced ​​mushrooms in a separate skillet, also adding butter.

Note!

Mushrooms are 80% water, so they need to be fried in a well-heated skillet. Before frying, it is better to grease the sliced ​​mushrooms with fat so that a crust quickly forms during frying in a hot pan, which retains moisture. Otherwise, all the water and mushroom aroma will evaporate during the frying process, and only chitin will remain in the dish - coarse fiber that is not digested by the body.

1. Transfer all prepared dish ingredients to a baking dish, on top of the corn porridge. To make the dish tastier, make holes in the porridge layer, pierce it over the entire surface with a knife or other suitable tools.
2. Bake the polenta for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 250 ° C. In the meantime, prepare the cheese. Grate it. You can add pungency and piquancy by mixing it with ground pepper and herbs.
3. Remove the dish from the oven for a minute and sprinkle the prepared cheese on top of the dish. Return to oven to melt cheese.

The thickness of the corn layer is a matter of personal preference. In this dish, it plays the role of the base, as in pizza. Serve hot. Spicy tomato or garlic sauce will suit it.

Polenta with vegetables and omelet

A quick summer breakfast with polenta is a good and tasty start to the day. Polenta is good because it can be prepared in advance when you have free time. Cold porridge can be heated in the microwave, or baked in the oven, adding any food you want. After all, polenta, in fact, is corn flour bread, a dietary and very healthy product.

Ingredients:

• Eggs - 3 pcs.
• Milk or cream - 75 ml.
• Zucchini - 1 pc.
• Polenta - 300 gr.
• Tomatoes - 3 pcs.
• Bulb onions - 200 gr.
• Butter - 90 gr.
• Garlic - 2-3 cloves
• Chopped greens - 50 gr.

Preparation:

1. Polenta, a cold corn porridge, cut into random sized cubes. Fry them in hot oil until golden brown with coarsely diced onions.
2. Wash the tomatoes and zucchini, cut into 1.0-1.5 cm thick round slices. Fry on both sides in a skillet over high heat, add oil.
3. Beat the cooled raw eggs with a pinch of salt until the volume is 3-4 times higher. Gradually pour milk or cream into the whipped mass. The second option is preferable, since heavy cream will give the omelette mass more volume and delicate taste.
4. In a deep frying pan, greased with oil, lay the fried zucchini, polenta pieces with onions in layers.
5. Pour the bottom layer with the cooked omelette mass, and place in the preheated oven. When the omelet is thick enough, place the fried tomato slices on top of it, sprinkle with the chopped herbs and garlic mixture. Keep the dish in the oven for another 3-5 minutes and serve hot.

Polenta with vegetables and an omelet can be cooked on the stove, but then you need to change the procedure a little to keep the pan hot: fry the pieces of corn porridge separately, and put them on the zucchini, fried in a deep pan, then pour the egg and milk mass, cover the pan with a lid , and cook the dish over low heat. At the end of frying, add the tomatoes and sprinkle with herbs.

This dish can also be baked in portioned forms for a more sophisticated look.

Polenta with cheese and green onions

Polenta cooked in water can easily make a creamy dish. This recipe will help you invent your own dishes from thick and chilled porridge.

Ingredients:

• Cream (33%) - 100 ml.
• Polenta (semi-finished product) - 350 gr.
• White crackers - 70 gr.
• Oil - 50 gr.
• Nuts in assortment - 120 gr.
• Green onions - 200 gr.
• Lemon - ½ pc.
• Cream cheese (or homemade fat cottage cheese) - 400 gr.
• Spices to taste
• Olives or olives, basil leaves, cherry tomatoes - for decorating a dish

Preparation:

1. Cut the cold corn porridge into pieces, beat until smooth, using a blender, and add heavy cream to the bowl.
2. Grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Put in it a thick creamy porridge, and put in a preheated oven. Bake until golden brown at 200 ° C.
3. Pour the baked semi-finished product with melted butter, cover with foil or foil for 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board.
4. Chop green onions, sprinkle with fresh lemon juice, add spices.
5. Cream cheese or fatty cottage cheese, rubbed twice through a sieve, combine with a spicy green mass, mix, and put on polenta, in a layer of 1.5-2 cm. Smooth the surface.
6. Divide the dish into portions with a thin knife blade dipped in water or coarse thread.
7. When serving, decorate each portion with basil leaves, chopped nuts, cherry wedges, olives.

Such corn porridge can be safely prepared for any family celebration.

Polenta with fish (salmon steak)

Any professional chef will tell you that it is difficult to choose a side dish for fish. The most successful combination is rice, mashed potatoes and vegetables, and even then - not all. Any porridge with fish "does not sound": either because of the characteristic taste, or the consistency is not quite suitable. Corn porridge is a rare and pleasant exception, not only in combination with fried fish, but also with other seafood.

Check it out with a simple example!

Ingredients:

• Salmon (steak) - 700 gr.
• Butter - 40 gr.
• Rosemary, thyme - 50 gr.
• White wine - 120 ml.
• Polenta - 500 gr.
• Olive oil - 30 ml.
• Onions (green, chives or leeks), chopped - 50 gr.
• Garlic - 3 cloves
• Cherry - 10 pcs.

You will need a grill pan for cooking. Also, this dish can be prepared during a picnic, on an open grill.

Preparation:

1. Wash the cherry, season with ground pepper, chopped herbs, salt, garlic and wine. Wrap in foil and bake. You need to make a bag out of foil, tightly wrapping the edges so that the juice does not flow out and the aroma does not evaporate.
2. Cut the polenta into pieces, in portions, of any shape and size, brush with butter and also grill on both sides.
3. Season the prepared pieces of salmon with salt and pepper, sprinkle with wine, leave for twenty minutes. Then, brush with oil too, grill for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Put the finished pieces of salmon and polenta into portioned plates, garnish with baked cherry tomatoes and herbs.

Sweet polenta, milk recipe - healthy baby porridge for breakfast

There is no limit to the variety and perfection of polenta dishes. Cook sweet and thick corn porridge in milk, decorate the dish with dried fruits, berries, jam and whipped cream, and there will never be problems with your beloved child, who flatly refuses to eat porridge in the morning. The child will eat sweet polenta with great pleasure.

Ingredients:

• Water 200 ml.
• Cream (20%) 150 ml.
• Dried fruits 50 gr.;
• Sugar (or honey), salt - to taste
• Jam apricot 30 gr.
• Nuts - 70 gr.
• Whipped cream 20 gr.

Preparation:

1. Boil the prepared cereals until half cooked in water, as for the basic recipe, and then add the cream to the pan, having previously brought them to a boil.
2. Add washed dried fruits (optional) to the porridge. Cut large fruits into cubes or strips.
3. Salt lightly to set off the taste, add honey or sugar.
4. Bring porridge to a boil, set aside, tightly covered with a lid. It is advisable to wrap the pan so that the porridge is infused warm.
5. Place in oiled serving bowls or cups. Let set, then transfer to a serving plate by turning the mold over. Garnish with chopped nuts, jam and whipped cream.

Corn grits are a valuable source of vitamins and minerals. This cereal is included in the list of foods recommended for mandatory use by nutritionists. A great advantage of cereals is availability, and you can always come up with your own recipes if the proposed options are not enough.

Polenta - Many have heard of this dish, but it seems that many of us have not tried it. But this is far from the case, although it is served in most cases in restaurants and elite cafes. In fact, polenta is crushed dry grains of corn, and we all ate corn porridge as children. Cooking polenta is challenging and exciting.

How polenta is prepared in Italy

It seems to be the simplest common food, but it has become a masterpiece of Italian cuisine.

1. In most cases, cooking begins with boiling the cereal until tender, adding butter and grated hard cheese.
2. Cool by putting the porridge into a mold, where it safely solidifies into a single mass.
3. Then it is enough to remove it, cut it into portioned pieces, fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.
4. Serve as a side dish, dessert, or as a component of a vegetable salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.

Polenta porridge, or rather its cooking process from coarse cornmeal is not easy.

• During the boiling of cereals, it must be constantly stirred. Otherwise, it will firmly boil to the walls and bottom of the dishes, and then burn. The food will be spoiled only due to the specific smell of burnt flakes. Therefore, it is recommended to use a cauldron made of real cast iron, preferably with a non-stick coating.
• Stir the cereals with a wooden spatula with a long handle.

Important details on how to prepare polenta correctly

The quality and taste will depend on what kind of corn flour is used for cooking. The food should be smooth, smooth and silky. Indeed, in the process of boiling cereals, all grains should soften. With cheap cereals of poor quality, this will be extremely difficult to achieve.

• To properly prepare an Italian dish, use 1 part of cereal, three parts of purified water.
• For about 40-50 minutes, it must be constantly stirred so that the porridge does not burn and is completely cooked.

Polenta in a multicooker is easier to prepare and does not require constant stirring, it is only important to choose the correct cooking mode - porridge.

You can cheat a little and buy a package of instant corn grits in a large supermarket. Its cooking time is 7-8 minutes. But you still need a good dish with a thick bottom, the cereal will need attention and constant stirring.

The dish resembles hominy, about the preparation of which we wrote in.

The correct recipe for preparing polenta for a side dish

This is a classic polenta recipe that can be used as a side dish, for example with a fried liver, in a sauce or served with it. In general, porridge can easily replace mashed potatoes with many meat, fish or vegetable dishes.

From the ingredients you will need:

• 1.5-2 cups of water or chicken broth;
• A generous pinch of salt;
• 55 gr. butter;
• 125 gr. corn flour of coarse grinding with the inscription on the packaging "For the preparation of polenta."

How to cook properly? Step by step recipe:

1. Measure out the required amount of water in a saucepan, and, generously salting it with coarse table salt, bring to a boil.
2. Slowly, pour the cereal into boiling water or broth in a thin stream with regular stirring. The mixture in a cauldron or saucepan should boil, while the mass thickening before our eyes must be constantly stirred.
3. Now the fire should be reduced to a minimum level, continuing the cooking process and continuous stirring. Acting patiently, slowly and very gently continue to cook and stir the contents of the pot.
4. The readiness of the porridge is quite easy to determine visually. The groats become homogeneous and smooth in consistency. It lags behind the walls and bottom of the dishes quite easily. And if the cook was not lazy in stirring, the flour was thoroughly mixed into the liquid, the uniformity of the side dish will become not only homogeneous, but also creamy at the time of readiness.
5. And then the time comes just to introduce butter, and literally stir it in with a spatula. If the cereal is very swollen and the gruel is thick enough, you should not worry. After readiness, while still in a saucepan, you can dilute it with boiling water from a kettle or hot broth.
6. If desired, in addition to butter, you can add any hard cheese. It turns out very tasty with sweet varieties of the product, such as "Cheddar" or "Maasdam".

Advice! While stirring, the corn porridge should not burn on you. A long-handled wooden spatula is recommended. This is necessary so that during the boil, the porridge literally jumping out of the pan in the form of splashes does not burn the delicate skin of the hands.

Ready-made polenta with cheese can be put on a dish to shape it or simply put on plates as a side dish. You should definitely sprinkle everything with finely grated cheese and garnish with a sprig of parsley.

Creamy polenta with milk and cheese

Polenta with milk according to this recipe turns out to be incredibly tasty. It is recommended to transfer it to a shallow form and allow the dish to harden. This will allow you to subsequently cut it into pieces and fry until golden brown.

For cooking you will need:

• 255 ml. cow's milk;
• 70 gr. wholemeal corn flour;
• 25-30 gr. butter;
• 225 gr. hard cheese that melts well or feta cheese;
• A generous pinch of table salt;
• Freshly ground coarse black pepper;
• A couple of sprigs of fresh parsley;
• A little vegetable oil.

How to cook polenta with milk and cheese?

1. Heat the milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Salt immediately to taste, and add a little black pepper.
2. Pour the cereal in a thin stream, and boil it until tender over low heat.
3. A couple of minutes before turning off the stove, add butter and finely grated cheese.
4. Transfer the prepared food to the mold. Let it cool down. Chop and fry in sunflower oil until golden brown.
5. Serve with meat, chicken or vegetables, sprinkle with homemade sour cream sauce with garlic and fresh herbs.

The undoubted benefits of this dish suggests that cereals must be included in the family's menu on an ongoing basis.

Video: Polenta - recipe from Ilya Lazerson

Better known as polenta. The name of this delicious and very popular dish in Italy comes from its main ingredient - corn flour, also called polenta. Once upon a time, barley was boiled in boiling water to a soft and tender mass. After the appearance of corn in Europe, Italians appreciated the original taste of the new cereal, and now this dish is made from corn flour.

Polenta is considered the most famous option in the world, despite the fact that many countries like and prepare a similar dish, including in the historical homeland of corn - in America, where it is called corn porridge.

Polenta can be soft or thick, depending on the amount of flour used. Soft polenta is usually served hot immediately after cooking. Thick polenta is often cut into pieces and serves as the basis for preparing more complex versions of this delicious dish and can be served both cold and hot.

Polenta flour can be used either yellow or white. But the classic polenta is still yellow flour polenta.

Polenta can be made with varying degrees of cornmeal. From fine flour, the dish turns out to be very tender and airy, but it is considered more correct to cook from coarse flour - such polenta contains more nutrients and has a richer taste.

To determine the readiness of Italian corn porridge, you need to cook it until the moment when the mass begins to separate from the sides of the pan.

In order for polenta to have a uniform consistency without lumps, there are 2 main methods of preparation. The first, classic, is to wait for the water to boil, and add flour in a thin stream, stirring constantly. The second is to mix all the ingredients at once, and only then put on the stove and cook, not forgetting to stir constantly while doing this. If something did not go according to plan, and lumps still appeared, then during cooking, remove the polenta from the stove and quickly whisk the mass with a mixer or blender, or mash with a fork, and then continue cooking.

If something goes wrong and your polenta is burnt, carefully transfer it to a clean container - the burnt part of the dish will remain in the old saucepan and continue cooking.

Prepared soft polenta, you must pour it into a bowl moistened with water, wait a few minutes, then spread out in portions and serve until it has cooled down.

In order to make a semi-finished product of thick polenta for frying or baking, after cooking, the polenta is laid out in a shallow square or rectangular shape, wait until it is completely cooled and thickened, and then cut into pieces with a preheated knife. Dense polenta, at a temperature of + 6C in polyethylene, retains freshness for 3 days.

To bake polenta, place the polenta pieces in one layer on a greased baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 170 C until golden brown.

To grill polenta, grease thin pieces of polenta with oil and then fry on both sides.

To make fried polenta, cut it into narrow strips and deep-fry it until it hardens. Blot excess oil with a paper towel.

To prepare thick Italian corn porridge fried in sauce, brown the polenta cut into pieces in a pan in butter on both sides. Place the sauce and grated cheese with spices on a layer of polenta and bake in the oven.

You can replace the pasta in your favorite lasagna with thin, thick polenta. This lasagna will taste very good.

If you want to save a lot of time, you can buy semi-finished polenta from the supermarket and then use it as a base for fried or baked polenta.

Classic soft polenta.

Basic products for 6 servings:

Corn flour - 1 glass

Water - 4 glasses

Salt - 2 teaspoons.

Additionally:

Grated cheese (Parmesan) - 100 grams,

Butter - 50 grams or olive oil - 2-3 tablespoons,

Chopped aromatic herbs - 3 tablespoons,

Ground black pepper.

Preparation:

Pour in water, add salt and flour, beat thoroughly until smooth and heat until boiling. Since, during the preparation process, polenta can increase quite strongly in volume, it is necessary to cook it in a container, which you fill with water no more than half. Then, reduce the temperature to minimum and cook with constant stirring for 30-40 minutes until tender. Remove from heat, add butter and grated cheese. Toss and place in a bowl. Polenta should be infused for 7-10 minutes. Sprinkle the polenta with pepper, aromatic herbs and serve.

Similarly, you can cook a dish in the microwave. To do this, place a homogeneous mass of water, flour and salt in a deep bowl without a lid in the oven at maximum power for 7 minutes. Remove the dishes, whisk the mixture, cover the dishes with a paper napkin and put them back in the microwave for 7 minutes. Then add cheese and butter, stir and serve with spices and herbs.

Dense polenta.

Main products:

Corn flour - 2 cups

Water - 4 glasses

Salt - 2 teaspoons

Additionally:

Butter or olive oil,

Parmesan cheese,

tomato sauce,

ground pepper,

chopped fresh herbs or ready-made dry mix of Italian spices.

Combine flour, water and salt. Stir constantly, cook until tender. Put the mass in a mold, smooth the top with a knife and leave until it hardens completely. Cut the cold polenta into pieces. Thick polenta can also be cooked in the microwave (see cooking technology above).

Bon Appetit!

Polenta(Italian Polenta) is an Italian dish that is corn porridge. Despite the sonorous name, this dish is quite simple. In fact, this is the most common steep porridge made from crushed grains of corn or corn flour, an analogue of the well-known hominy (Moldavian, Romanian, Caucasian, Western Ukrainian and Cossack national dish).

Polenta is especially popular in northern Italy, in the Italian part of Switzerland, and also in!

Historical reference

Only in the XVI century. corn got to Europe, where it was brought by ships from America.

She very quickly took root on European soil and easily gained popularity, becoming an ingredient in many dishes. The prototype of corn polenta is considered to be the ancient Roman porridge "pulse" (Italian Ruls or Рulmentum). A culinary masterpiece of Italian cuisine, polenta was originally a simple meal of Italian peasants and the poor. Traditionally, the food was prepared in a large copper kettle, mixing corn grits with water and stirring the mass over low heat until thickened. Then the composition was cooled on a wooden tray, the frozen polenta was cut into strips and dried a little. In this form, it was stored and eaten for several days; pieces of polenta were usually taken with them on the road.

Simple polenta was flavored with only salt and aromatic herbs; instead of cheese, the poor added dry bread crumbs. More prosperous peasants fried strips of polenta in oil, stewed, baked, poured various sauces.

So a simple peasant corn porridge was the ancestor of many dishes that have become a masterpiece of Italian cuisine.

Over time, with the invention of various polenta-based recipes, it began to be served in expensive restaurants, satisfying the needs of the most demanding gourmets.

Today there are a huge number of options for its preparation, for every taste.

It is used as a side dish and as an independent dish with various additives (with meat, cheese, mushrooms, vegetables, anchovies, fruits), fried, baked, etc. Sometimes it is hard polenta (you can buy it in stores) and soft. It can also be sweet and served for dessert.

A few words about the benefits and harms

The main component is corn grits (flour), which contains potassium, calcium, sodium, iron, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, zinc, biotin, fiber, proteins and carbohydrates, as well as vitamins of groups A, B, necessary for the human body , E, PP and other mass. Calorie content: 100 calories per 100 g.

Classic polenta

Some of the beneficial properties

• Regular consumption of polenta can help lower bad cholesterol levels.
• Corn is good for the cardiovascular system: thanks to vitamin C, the walls of blood vessels and the heart muscle are strengthened.
• Including cornmeal in your diet, you can normalize metabolism, it improves the functioning of all body systems and contributes to weight loss.
• Fiber, which is part of polenta, normalizes digestion, actively cleanses the intestines, removing toxins and toxins.
• Polenta is extremely beneficial for the skin, as corn contains vitamins A and E, which are necessary for nourishing and moisturizing the skin.
• This dish can rightfully be called dietary. Polenta is low in calories, but gives a feeling of satiety for a long time, which contributes to the normalization of body weight (this is very important today).
• The phosphorus in corn is very beneficial for the brain, improving brain activity.
• Zinc is known to have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.
• Iron, which is part of corn grits, is necessary for the prevention and treatment of anemia.
• Corn grits are gluten-free, which means the dish can be considered hypoallergenic, and people with food allergies can safely include polenta in their diet.

As for the harm, the dish is contraindicated for those suffering from stomach ulcers and with gastritis in the acute stage. And finally, when using polenta, observe the measure, otherwise, being overly carried away, you can provoke constipation.

How to cook yourself at home

For polenta, it is advisable to use yellow or white corn flour. If you want the polenta to have a thicker consistency, choose a coarse flour.

Cooking method:

1. To prepare the dish, you need special dishes with a thick bottom, not aluminum or enamelled. A cauldron is great.
2. Pour 1 liter of water into the cauldron, add 1 glass of cereal and put on low heat.
3. Cook for 40 minutes to an hour, stirring constantly, until the polenta begins to lag behind the walls of the dish.
4. The porridge needs to be salted, pepper to taste, mixed, covered and removed from heat. Then it is made either soft or hard. While it is hot, it is important to decide what kind of dish you want to get in the end.
5. It remains to transfer the composition to a tray, give it the desired shape and cool.

How to serve?

Ready polenta can be baked, fried in oil in a pan, grilled, then served with meat or fish as a side dish. The dish goes well with vegetables and all kinds of sauces.

Sweet polenta is an amazing dessert for tea. It can be served with cream, jams, preserves, syrups, etc.

1. To make soft polenta, add a little milk, herbs and a piece of butter to a saucepan. Soft p. Will be a wonderful side dish for any main dish, instead of the usual ubiquitous potatoes.
2. To make the polenta harden enough, add hard grated cheese, butter and a little wine to the finished corn porridge. Stir the porridge quickly, place on a greased baking sheet, smooth with a spatula and leave for 20-30 minutes. When the dish hardens, turn the baking sheet onto a wooden tray and, until it is completely hardened, cut into the desired pieces.
3. Pieces of polenta can be grilled, pan, oven baked and served with a variety of sauces.
4. Add different spices and seasonings, experiment with taste.
5. The consistency of the porridge can be controlled by changing the proportions of water and flour.
6. The hard item is cut with a regular sharp knife, pizza cutter, or strong thread.
7. For polenta, various sauces are prepared (bechamel and tomato, cheese, sour cream, mushroom) or simply stewed vegetables. With polenta, everything will be incredibly tasty. Experiment and enjoy!

Curious facts

Delicious breakfast

Its recipe was found in the original book of Russian authors "At the Table with Nero Wolfe or Secrets of the Kitchen of a Great Detective." Nero Wolfe, as you know, is both a great detective and a great gourmet, to be honest, a big glutton, who is the protagonist of R. Stout's detective series. According to the plot, the famous detective had a personal chef, Fritz Brenner, the best culinary specialist in New York, who, in the course of the narrative, treats the gourmet hero with all sorts of delicacies. The authors of The Culinary Detective (S. Sinelnikov, T. Solomonik, I. Lazerson) in their book give recipes for many dishes mentioned in Stout's novels.