Polenta

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Cooking
Cooking

By James Peterson

Published 2007

  • About
Essentially cornmeal, polenta, a specialty of northern Italy, comes in fine and coarse grind. Coarse-ground polenta is harder to locate—it may require a trip to a specialty-foods store—but it has a more robust flavor that justifies the effort. In a pinch, however, fine-ground polenta is a satisfactory substitute.

Like risotto, most polenta recipes call for stirring polenta on the stove top almost constantly for it to achieve its characteristic smooth, thick texture. Sally Schneider, in her estimable book A New Way to Cook, recommends starting the polenta on the stove top and then finishing it in the oven, which eliminates nearly all of the stirring.