Meet This Grain: Polenta
Whole-grain cornmeal is packed with nutrients. Wait until you discover all the things you can do with the versatile Italian delicacy polenta.
What Is Polenta?
Polenta is essentially cooked cornmeal. Once considered peasant food, it’s now made its way on to gourmet restaurant menus and cookbooks. To make it, ground, dried corn is boiled in water or broth to create a warm, creamy mixture (kind of like porridge) that has a mild, nutty corn flavor. You can then jazz this dish up with butter, cheese, herbs and vegetables.
Making Your Own Polenta
Ground to fine, medium or course textures, cornmeal can be yellow, white or blue. For making polenta, choose the yellow or white varieties; blue cornmeal tends to be coarser and not as well suited for achieving a smooth texture. You might see packages labeled “quick-cooking” at your local grocery store. That means the polenta is precooked and then re-dried for super fast preparation (usually 5 to 10 minutes). I find that finely ground cornmeal cooks up almost as quickly. The typical ratio for cooking polenta is 1 cup cornmeal to 4 cups of liquid.
Nutrition Facts
One cup of cornmeal will produce about 3 cups of polenta. By itself, one cup of polenta contains about 145 calories, 1 gram of fat, 3 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber and no cholesterol. High-calorie flavorings such as butter and cheese will drive up the fat and calorie content, so use them sparingly.
Look for corn meal that is stone-ground when possible; this process keeps more of the grain intact, so the most nutrients are retained.
Ways to Enjoy
Your polenta prep options are almost limitless. Try it in bite-sized appetizers, a side dish for meat or fish or even a hearty vegetarian main course.
Freshly prepared, soft polenta is rich and velvety. Cook the grains in water or broth (for some extra flavor), and then stir in your favorite fresh herbs, spices, sautéed vegetables or some cheese. Just a touch of a sharply flavored cheese — like Parmesan or gorgonzola — is all you need. My favorite simple polenta recipe has only a few teaspoons of butter, fresh basil, black pepper and a sprinkle of coarsely grated Parmesan cheese.
Once cooked and cooled, polenta firms up and you can cut it into squares for grilling, baking, sautéing or frying. Tubes of cooked polenta are available at many grocery stores and can save you steps. Just slice, and you’re good to go.
Storage Tip: Keep air-tight containers of whole-grain cornmeal in a cool, dry place for up to one year. Put it in the freezer for extra mileage — 2 to 3 years!
It appears Polenta is no more Italian peasant food.I have seen it on several menus at supposedly big restaurants. Your post gives many ways to do it, like Rachel in her Grilled Polenta Crackers with Roasted Pepper Salsa uses sun-dried tomato flavor.I think Polenta has become quite popular because you have 267 Polenta recipes on Food Network.
Being Italian I grew up with Polenta! Love it! I do enjoy seeing it on fancy restaurants menus and end up ordering whatever they are serving with it!
My comment is above–!!
I love polenta. It has a great, decadent flavor. I don't mind at all that it is "peasant food," and I will pay for it at restaurants, because it tastes so great. I have tried a few of the tube versions, and they are really tasty and handy. I literally could eat it out of the tube.
what's the difference exactly between polenta and grits? I made grits last night with vegan chipotle fauxsage and it was delicious! I just noticed that it was remarkably similar to the prepared polenta I buy. Anybody?
I grew up with a grandmother from Pennsylvania who made "fried mush." She would hold the corn meal in her hand, high above a pot of boiling, salted water and let it drift into the pot. Heaven only knows the proportions…. After it cooled and became solid, she'd fry the slices in butter and serve it with maple syrup for breakfast! It's interesting for me to find this Italian version, although I wouldn't like it with cheese. However, I'm aware that, in the South, people often serve (hominy) grits as a side dish for dinner, and it's usually layered with American cheese.
My grandmother always served it soft with rabbit hunter style. But my Mom made it with Sausage and a side of Spinich sauted in garlic and olive oil. She always made extra Polenta so that we could have it on Friday night (when we weren't allowed to eat meat on Friday). She would slice it about 3/4 of an inch thick, dredge it in flour , salt, pepper and fry it in olive oil until crispy. When it came out of the skillet, she would put a slice of Munster Cheese on it and put another slice of Polenta on top. Then you could either put syrup on it or eat it plain or put some Spaghetti sauce over it with grating cheese. Delicious any way you chose to eat it.
Sandee,
Polenta, or Cornmeal mush as we call it in the south, is made from ground dried corn. Grits are made from corn that has been treated with lye and turned into hominy and then ground into grits.
Polenta sounds delicious. I used to love corn products until I realized how very unhealthy corn is for us today. It is one of the worst foods you can eat for your health. The overwhelming majority of corn today is genetically modified (GM). Research has proven that we do not yet know the vast potential harm of GM foods to our bodies, but it is harmful indeed While I would love to try some of these receipes from a culinary standpoint, the dangers of corn products to me far outweigh my desire for any tasteful food. There are too many great tasting foods that truly ARE healthy for me to put my health in danger eating corn and corn products.
i would be interested in the feedback to michele's comment… this has been my reluctance also…
still, gluten free is so needful in the cooking i do, that i need more information…agree the ease of prep and the flavor possibilites are enticing…
Hi Michele and Katemarie –
To take the guesswork out of it, choose organic corn products – they are GMO-free. Local is always a good way to go too – many local farms are much smaller scale and do not need to resort to farming with genetically modified plants.
good thought dana
thankyou
My mother is northern Italian-polenta was our Sunday dinner. The big copper pot, the polenta stick (that my grandfather made) and hours on the stove. The men in the family would make it because it was so hard to mix-and if it splatered you got burned-its like larva! The further north in Italy you go the harder they make their polenta. Ours was hard enough to slice-by the wedge. We would have a chicken or beef gravy over it. Now I make a small polenta for myself as my family doesn't care for it. No big production-still have to be careful when it boils, I have gotten burned-keep the kids away.
Really really good post!! I love polenta. It has very large amount of proteins and minerals .. It is very good for healthy diet.. Thanks for sharing.