{{:recipes:basic_polenta.jpg?200|}} ====== Basic Polenta ====== /* Description */ [[http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014527-basic-polenta | New York Times Cooking]] {(rater>id=100|name=basic_polenta|type=rate|headline=off)} |**Preheat:** °|**Yield:** servings|| |**Prep:** 0:00|**Wait:** 0:00|**Cook:** 0:00| ====== Ingredients ====== * Salt and pepper * 1 cup medium or fine cornmeal * Butter * Parmesan for soft polenta, optional ====== Directions ====== - For firm polenta use 4 cups water; for soft polenta use 5 cups water. Bring water to a boil in a medium-size heavy sauce pan over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Pour cornmeal slowly into water, stirring with a wire whisk or wooden spoon. Continue stirring as mixture thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. - Turn heat to low. Cook for at least 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. If polenta becomes quite thick, thin it with 1/2 cup water, stir well and continue cooking. Add up to 1 cup more water as necessary, to keep polenta soft enough to stir. Put a spoonful on a plate, let it cool, then taste. Grains should be swollen and taste cooked, not raw. Adjust salt and add pepper if you wish. - For firm polenta, lightly butter a baking sheet or shallow dish, approximately 8 1/2 by 11 inches. Carefully pour polenta into pan. Using a spatula, spread polenta to a thickness of 3/4 inch. Cool to room temperature to allow polenta to solidify. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. For soft polenta, add 6 tablespoons butter to pot and stir well. Serve immediately or transfer to a double boiler set over low heat, cover and keep warm for up to an hour or so. (Or set the saucepan in a pot of barely simmering water.) Stir well before spooning into low soup bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired. ====== Notes ====== /* Nutrition block - remove the slash-asterisk and asterisk-slash from just above and below the following block */ /* ====== Nutrition ====== |Calories (kcal): |Fat Calories (kcal): |Cholesterol (mg): |[[recipes:notes:nutrition guidelines |(Guide)]] | |Fat (g): |Saturated Fat (g): |Mono Fat (g): |Poly Fat (g): | |Protein (g): |Carbohydrates (g): |Sodium (mg): |Fiber (g): | */ {{tag>Recipes Side/Starch European/Italian }} /* Recipe Tags - Copy and paste tags from the list below to the tag list in the above line, replacing the "TagsNeeded" tag and separated by spaces. */ /* ---Recipe Types--- Appetizer Beverage Beverage/Cocktail Beverage/Liquor-Mixer Bread Bread/Biscuit-Roll Bread/Muffin Bread/Quickbread Brines-Marinades-Rubs Breakfast Casserole Canning-Freezing Condiment Dessert Dessert/Bar-Brownie Dessert/Cake Dessert/Cake/Frosting Dessert/Candy-Chocolate Dessert/Crisp-Buckle Dessert/Cookie Dessert/Custard-Curd Dessert/IceCream-Ice Dessert/Pie Dessert/Pie/Crust Dessert/Topping Dip-Spread Entertaining Fondue Grilling-BBQ Grilling-BBQ/BBQSauce Holiday Ingredient-Seasoning Kid-Friendly MainDish MainDish/Beef MainDish/Poultry MainDish/Pork MainDish/Seafood Pasta-Rice Pizza Roast Salad Salad/Dressing Sandwich Sauce-Gravy Sausage-Pate Side European/Italian SlowCooker-Crockpot Snack Soup Stew-Braise Stir-Fry Vegetarian ---Recipe Cuisines--- American American/Cajun-Creole American/Southern American/TexMex Asian Asian/Chinese Asian/Indian Asian/Japanese Asian/Korean Asian/Thai Asian/Vietnamese European European/Belgian European/Czech European/Dutch European/English European/French European/German European/Greek European/Polish European/Irish European/Italian European/Portuguese European/Russian European/Scandinavian European/Spanish European/Swiss Latin Latin/Brazilian Latin/Mexican MiddleEastern MiddleEastern/Ethiopian MiddleEastern/Jewish MiddleEastern/Lebanese ---Recipe Sources--- 365Recipes 365Recipes/Grilling 365Recipes/Chicken 365Recipes/Pasta AmericasTestKitchen AmericasTestKitchen/CooksCountry AmericasTestKitchen/CooksIllustrated BetterHomesGarden BonAppetit Chowhound FineCooking FoodWine GoodEats Gourmet Jennivines MilkStreet HDawson LMaidment TMaidment AMarcos DMarcos JMarcos KMarcos JPhalen DPendergast ---Recipe Ratings--- 5★ 4★ 3★ 2★ 1★ No★ ---Recipe Alerts--- RecipeNeeded RecipeIncomplete RecipeWrong RecipeFails TagsNeeded */ ~~DISCUSSION~~