Dishes from corn grits pallet. Polenta - what is it: recipes for corn grits

In many culinary shows, you can often hear and see a dish with an unusual Russian ear name - polenta .

Something delicious and original in this word, isn't it? Surely you immediately imagine a chic treat with different seasonings and sauces.

But in fact, almost everyone has tried polenta. In fact Polenta is a very spicy porridge made from crushed corn.. It can be porridge, but not simple. So what is polenta how to cook polenta and with what to eat read on.

Historical background - POLENTA

Do you know that Polenta did not immediately become a masterpiece of Italian cuisine? Corn came to Europe only in the 16th century, when it was brought on ships from America.

Almost without difficulty, corn took root on European soil and very quickly became a popular ingredient in various dishes. But polenta itself was originally food for the poor.

Cooked corn polenta can be soft or hard. It solidified quite easily and was dumped on a wooden table, cut into strips and dried a little. In this form, polenta was stored and eaten for several days. On the road, along with bread, they often took pieces of polenta.

Simple polenta is flavored with salt and fragrant herbs, instead of the usual cheese, in a poor version, fried bread crumbs are added, but not everywhere.

Who had a great wealth, strips of polenta were fried, baked, poured with sauces and stewed.

So ordinary porridge became the ancestor of a huge number of dishes. It is polenta dishes that have become a masterpiece of Italian cuisine, able to please the refined gourmet.

Two regions in northern Italy claim the birthplace of polenta as a dish: Lombardy and Venice. Polenta came out of Italy only at the end of the 20th century and rushed through the kitchens of famous restaurants, cafes and ordinary food lovers.

In old Italian restaurants, they still offer to try simple polenta, without ennobling additives and spices. Most often, you will be served polenta with cheese, mushroom or meat sauce.

By the way, polenta is sold in Italian stores in the form of a round sausage loaf. So, if you are passing through Italy, look into the supermarket for polenta.

We will cook polenta at home, in an ordinary kitchen.

Polenta - an Italian dish or corn porridge? / POLENTA recipe

Of course, I am not Italian, and I have never been polenta in my homeland, but I cook polenta. Perhaps I do not have an original recipe, but it is simple and adapted to Russian tastes and habits.

Polenta Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 st. corn grits
• 1 liter of water
• pepper

Cooking method:

1. To prepare polenta, you need special dishes with thick walls and a bottom. Aluminum or enameled will not work. You can take a cauldron.
2. Pour water into a cauldron, add cereal and put on low heat. The pot needs to be covered with a lid, hot porridge gurgles strongly and splashes.
3. Cook the polenta for about 40 minutes, stirring constantly. Sometimes an hour will please, before the polenta begins to move away from the spoon and the walls of the dish.
4. Season the polenta with salt and pepper, stir, close the lid and remove from heat. The polenta is then made either soft or hard. While the polenta is hot, decide what will happen to it in the end.

1. For soft polenta, add some milk, butter, and herbs to the pan. You can pour in a little wine, preferably Italian. Soft polenta will be a great side dish for any main dish, instead of the usual potatoes.
2. To harden the polenta, you need to add butter, hard grated cheese, and a little wine to the finished porridge. Then quickly mix the pallet and put it on a greased baking sheet, smooth it with a spatula and leave for 15-20 minutes. Polenta hardens quickly. Turn the baking sheet over onto a board and cut into the desired pieces until it is completely hardened.
3. Pieces of polenta are grilled, baked in the oven, and served with different sauces.

Sauce for polenta

Ingredients:

• 1 b. tomatoes in their own juice
• 100 gr. smoked brisket or bacon
• onion
• basil greens
• olive oil
• 50 ml dry white wine
• pepper

Cooking method:

1. Cut the brisket into small cubes.
2. Finely chop the onion and fry in olive oil.
3. Put a jar of tomatoes in the onion, simmer for 10 minutes, then add the brisket and pour in the wine. Stir, simmer another 10 minutes.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finish with chopped basil. Serve in small bowls, with strips of grilled polenta separately.

Prepare different sauces for polenta, tomato or bechamel, sour cream, mushrooms or just stewed vegetables. With polenta, everything will be unusually tasty. Try it!

Bon appetit or Buon appetito!

Cook with pleasure and be healthy!

Always your Alena Tereshina.

How to cook polenta? How to submit it? How to make a rich snack out of "poor" porridge? All these culinary questions will be considered in this article.
Recipe content:

Among the numerous Italian culinary treasures, many dishes are in the public domain: pizza, risotto, pasta, polenta. This is the most sonorous "roll call" of Italian dishes. In this famous list, polenta occupies a special place, which has turned from porridge for the poor into a gourmet dish. In gourmet restaurants, the dish is valued at a considerable amount. However, this dish is both democratic and rich at the same time.

Cooking polenta: subtleties and secrets

• For soft polenta, use 3 parts water to 1 part cornmeal.
• Cook the dish over low heat for 40-50 minutes, stirring constantly.
• The "historical" technology involves the use of copper utensils for cooking polenta.
• The readiness of porridge is determined when the mass lags behind the walls of the pan. Then it's time to remove it from the stove.
• Cornmeal can be white or yellow. But more often yellow is used.
• It is desirable to give preference to coarse flour, then the dish will be more healthy. From fine grinding, porridge will come out more tender with a creamy texture.
• To serve, pour the polenta into a bowl dipped in cold water. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then spread on a plate.
• The remaining polenta is kept in the refrigerator under plastic wrap for up to 3 days.
• If the porridge is needed thick, for frying, then it is laid out on a greased baking sheet 1.2 cm thick and left until thickened or baked at 175 ° C until it warms up.
• Cut thick polenta into squares with a pizza cutter or an ordinary kitchen knife.
• Before cutting, it is kept for some time in hot water.
• To avoid lumps, the flour is slowly poured into boiling water, stirring constantly. Another easy way to avoid lumps is to pour the cornmeal into cold water, beat quickly, and then bring to a boil.
• If the bottom of the polenta is burnt, then it is transferred to another pan, without scraping off the burnt bottom, and continue cooking. At the same time, it is often stirred.
• Remove the lumpy polenta from the stove, knead the lumps, beat vigorously with a mixer.
• Soft warm polenta can replace bread during meals.

• Calorie content per 100 g - 87 kcal.
• Servings - 4
• Cooking time - 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• Water - 3 l
• Corn grits - 1 tbsp.
• Salt - to taste

Step by step preparation:

1. Boil salted water in a saucepan.
2. Gradually pour in the corn grits, while constantly stirring the mass.
3. After boiling again, when bubbles form, reduce the heat.
4. Continue to cook the cereal for 30 minutes, stirring constantly. If necessary, add water or sprinkle porridge.
5. When the mass lags behind the walls of the pan, then the dish is ready.
6. Transfer the mass to a tray, give the desired shape and leave to cool.

Ingredients:

• Yellow cornmeal - 0.5 tbsp.
• Drinking water - 1.5 tbsp.
• Salt - to taste

1. Boil water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan so that the porridge does not burn.
2. Gradually add the cornmeal, stirring it with a wooden spoon.
3. Salt and stir.
4. Bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring constantly.
5. Reduce the heat to the minimum and cook the food for 30 minutes, remembering to stir.
6. When the porridge begins to lag behind the walls, freely separate from the bottom and form a crust on the walls of the pan, it means that it is ready. The consistency of the polenta should be smooth and creamy.
7. Lay the Italian delicacy on a cutting board, shape into a rectangular shape and refrigerate.

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

Polenta is considered the most famous option in the world, despite the fact that in many countries they love and cook a similar dish, including in the historical homeland of corn - in America, where it is called maize 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 in both yellow and white. But classic polenta is, after all, 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 wholemeal 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 mass begins to separate from the walls 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 pour the flour in a thin stream, with constant stirring. The second is to mix all the ingredients at once, and only after that put it on the stove and cook, not forgetting to stir constantly. If something did not go according to plan, and lumps still appeared, then during the cooking process, remove the polenta from the stove and quickly beat the mass with a mixer or blender, or mash with a fork, and then continue cooking.

If trouble happens and your polenta burns, carefully transfer it to a clean container - the burnt part of the dish will remain in the old pan and continue cooking.

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

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

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

To grill polenta, brush thin slices of polenta with oil and then fry on both sides.

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

To prepare a thick Italian corn porridge fried in sauce, it is necessary to brown the polenta cut into pieces in a frying pan in oil on both sides. Put sauce and grated cheese with spices on a layer of polenta and bake in the oven.

You can replace the pasta in your favorite lasagne with thin, thick polenta. This lasagna will have a very pleasant taste.

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

Classic soft polenta.

Basic ingredients for 6 servings:

Cornmeal - 1 cup

Water - 4 glasses,

Salt - 2 teaspoons.

Additionally:

Grated cheese (Parmesan) - 100 grams,

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

Aromatic herbs chopped - 3 tablespoons,

Ground black pepper.

Cooking:

Pour water, put salt and flour, beat thoroughly until smooth and heat until boiling. Since polenta can expand quite a lot during cooking, it is necessary to cook it in a container that you fill with water no more than half. Then, reduce the temperature to a minimum and cook with constant stirring for 30-40 minutes until tender. Remove from heat, add butter and grated cheese. Stir and pour the mixture into a bowl. Polenta should be infused for 7-10 minutes. Sprinkle polenta with pepper, aromatic herbs and serve.

Similarly, you can cook the dish in the microwave. To do this, put a homogeneous mass of water, flour and salt in a deep bowl without a lid in the oven at maximum power for 7 minutes. Take out the dishes, beat the mass, cover the dishes with a paper towel and put it back in the microwave for 7 minutes. Then add cheese and butter, mix and serve with spices and herbs.

Thick polenta.

Main products:

Cornmeal - 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.

Mix flour, water and salt. Stirring constantly, cook until tender. Put the mass into the form, smooth the top with a knife and leave until completely solidified. Cut the cold polenta into pieces. Thick polenta can also be cooked in the microwave (see cooking method above).

Enjoy your meal!

It is unlikely that someone will be too tempted by an invitation to dine with corn porridge or hominy, but polenta sounds tempting and elegant. In essence, Italian cuisine consists of simple dishes with beautiful and melodic names, characteristic of the language of the people with a 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 both bread, and a main dish, and sweet pastries at the same time.

It would seem that you would think, what an unseen thing - corn porridge! Yes, it was not there! The simpler the composition of the dish, the more difficult it is to prepare, if you don’t know which cereal to choose, in what dishes, how long and how to cook. Here, we will 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 with the choice of corn grits. Any cereal (and corn grits is often called flour!) Has a different degree of grinding. The method of its preparation and, as a result, the taste of the dish depends on the degree of grinding of cereals. The finer the grinding, the more likely it is that the corn grits dish will not look like porridge in consistency, but like a boiled flour product.

Corn grits of any grinding, in any case, acquires viscosity during cooking, due to the large amount of starch contained in it. The task of the cook is to prevent the formation of lumps at the very first stage of cooking, and not to forget that after the liquid has evaporated, the starch burns very quickly, as it contains sugar.

The conclusion is simple: porridge is better undercooked than overcooked. 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 its job. But be sure to cover tightly with a lid so that the water does not evaporate, but is absorbed into the cereal.

Still need to remember:

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

But, if the cereal was stored in large bags, and the conditions for its storage are unknown, it is better not to risk your health. Throw the cereal in 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 and corn grits is 1:3. If the cereal was washed before cooking, then the amount of liquid should be reduced accordingly.

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

Polenta is Latin for barley porridge. It is also corn porridge, with the same name in Italian cuisine, since the 16th century, the prototype of 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 for its preparation is no different from other cereals, liquid or thick consistency, with the addition of milk or on 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 when cooked in a clay pot in the oven. Cooking options are huge. Choose your favorite recipes, and try to 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 grits 300 gr.
• Salt - to taste
• Oil (vegetable or butter) - 1 tbsp. l.

Cooking:

1. Pour the cereal into boiling water, little by little. At the same time, use a spoon to rotate the water in a circle so that the cereal does not stick together.
2. It is better to salt porridge in the middle of cooking, in a semi-boiled form.
3. To avoid the formation of lumps, 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 - 20-30 minutes. It depends on the intensity of heating, as well as on the grinding of cereals. The porridge should be well boiled, 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 dish. Choose the size depending on what you are going to cook next. It is desirable to lubricate the form with oil so that it is easier to remove it without damaging the integrity of the mass.

Liquid polenta is boiled by adding more water. If the porridge turns out to be too thick during the cooking process, add boiling water to the pan and continue cooking until tender.

Polenta with chicken, mushrooms and cheese in the oven

Ingredients:

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

Cooking:

1. Boil the corn grits as detailed in the basic recipe. Transfer the warm mass to a baking sheet or prepared baking dish. Fill the form to 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 fried meat to a plate, and in the pan, in the remaining fat, fry the onion, cut into large cubes.
4. To the onion, brought to transparency, add the tomatoes, cut into slices. If you do not like tomato skin in the dish, then blanch the tomatoes first, remove the skin, and then chop.
5. In a separate pan, fry the sliced ​​\u200b\u200bmushrooms, also adding butter.

Note!

Mushrooms are 80% water, so they need to be fried in a well-heated pan. Before frying, it is better to grease the sliced ​​\u200b\u200bmushrooms with fat so that during the process of frying in a hot pan, a crust quickly forms that retains moisture. Otherwise, all the water and mushroom flavor 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 the prepared ingredients of the dish 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. Meanwhile, prepare the cheese. Grate it. You can add spice and piquancy by mixing it with ground pepper and spicy herbs.
3. Remove the dish from the oven for a minute, and sprinkle the prepared cheese on the surface of the dish. Return to oven to melt cheese.

The thickness of the corn layer depends on personal preference. In this dish, it plays the role of the base, as in pizza. Serve hot. It goes well with spicy tomato or garlic sauce.

Polenta with vegetables and scrambled eggs

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 there is free time. Cold porridge can be heated in the microwave, or baked in the oven, adding any food your heart desires. After all, polenta, in fact, is bread made from cornmeal, a dietary and very healthy product.

Ingredients:

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

Cooking:

1. Polenta, cold porridge made from corn, cut into cubes of any size. Fry them in hot oil until golden brown with onions cut into large cubes.
2. Wash the tomatoes and zucchini, cut into round plates, 1.0-1.5 cm thick. Fry on both sides in a pan, over high heat, with the addition of oil.
3. Whisk chilled raw eggs with a pinch of salt until 3-4 times as large. Gradually pour milk or cream into the whipped mass. The second option is preferable, since heavy cream will give the omelet mass more volume and a delicate taste.
4. In a deep frying pan, greased with oil, spread the fried zucchini in layers, slices of polenta with onions.
5. Pour the bottom layer with the prepared omelette mass, and place in a preheated oven. When the omelet has thickened enough, place slices of fried tomatoes on it, sprinkle with a mixture of chopped herbs and garlic. Keep the dish for another 3-5 minutes in the oven, and serve hot.

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

This dish can also be baked in portioned forms - this way it will look more elegant.

Polenta with cheese and green onions

Polenta cooked in water can be easily prepared with a creamy taste. This recipe will help you invent your own thick and chilled porridge dishes.

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 fatty cottage cheese) - 400 gr.
• Spices - to taste
• Olives or olives, basil leaves, cherry tomatoes - to decorate the dish

Cooking:

1. Cut the cold corn porridge into slices, beat until smooth, using a blender, and adding heavy cream to the bowl.
2. Grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Put a thick porridge of a creamy consistency into it, and put it in a preheated oven. Bake until golden brown at 200°C.
3. Pour the baked semi-finished product with melted butter, cover with a film or foil for 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board.
4. Chop the green onion, sprinkle it with fresh lemon juice, add spices.
5. Cream cheese or fatty cottage cheese, rubbed through a sieve twice, combine with a spicy green mass, mix, and put on polenta, a layer of 1.5-2 cm. Level the surface.
6. Divide the dish into portions with a thin blade of a knife dipped in water, or with a harsh thread.
7. When serving, decorate each serving with basil leaves, chopped nuts, cherry tomatoes, 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 find 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.
• Onion (green, chives or leek), chopped - 50 gr.
• Garlic - 3 cloves
• Cherry - 10 pcs.

To cook the dish you will need a grill pan. Also, this dish can be cooked during a picnic, on an open grill.

Cooking:

1. Wash the cherry tomatoes, season them 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 leak out and the aroma does not evaporate.
2. Cut the polenta into slices, in portions, of any shape and size, brush with oil and also grill on both sides.
3. Salt and pepper the prepared pieces of salmon, sprinkle with wine, leave for twenty minutes. Then, also grease with oil, bake on the grill for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Arrange the prepared pieces of salmon and polenta in portioned plates, garnish with baked cherry tomatoes and herbs.

Sweet polenta, milk recipe - healthy children's 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 a problem 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
• Apricot jam 30 gr.
• Nuts - 70 gr.
• Whipped cream 20 gr.

Cooking:

1. Boil the prepared cereal until half cooked in water, as for the basic recipe, and then add the cream to the pan, bringing it to a boil beforehand.
2. Add washed dried fruits (optional) to the porridge. Cut large fruits into cubes or straws.
3. Salt lightly to set off the taste, add honey or sugar.
4. Bring the 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. Arrange in portioned plates or cups, greased with oil. Let cool, then transfer to a serving plate, turning the pan upside down. Garnish with chopped nuts, jam and whipped cream.

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

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

Pure polenta, 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, delicious both cold and hot, and can be made sweet or savory, hard or soft, grainy or tender and creamy. Cooking polenta is a long and laborious process, requiring constant stirring during cooking. Some shops offer "instant" polenta, ie. semi-finished product, the preparation of which will require a minimum of effort and time. But the most delicious and correct polenta will be obtained only by those who cook it themselves in a deep copper frying pan or a cauldron with a rounded bottom, constantly stirring with a wooden spatula with a long handle.

Polenta is a dish truly beloved by Italians, because if they didn’t love it, they wouldn’t arrange a holiday in his honor. A grand culinary celebration takes place every year in the small town of Sermoneta, where large copper cauldrons are set up on the streets in the morning, in which delicious polenta is cooked over an open fire. The holiday is accompanied by live music, competitions, performances and tastings, and all this splendor ends with a hearty lunch right on the central square of the city, where everyone is offered polenta cooked in a huge copper cauldron according to a recipe loved by Italians.

Traditionally, polenta is cooked in a deep copper cauldron, cornmeal, which looks like fine grits, is kneaded into the water and stirred with a wooden spoon until it thickens enough to stick on the spoon, usually after 40-60 minutes from the start of preparation. 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 its preparation. For example, after boiling, polenta can be baked in the oven with cheese and butter added beforehand, fried in butter, cut into sticks, or formed into balls and grilled.

There are a huge number of ways to cook polenta, as well as ways to serve it, the main thing is to choose or come up with your own, then on your table, in addition to the usual rice, pasta and potatoes, a new low-calorie side dish or an independent dish rich in carbohydrates will appear, which means not only nourishing, but also energizing. Separately, it is necessary to say about the beneficial substances contained in polenta. These are minerals such as potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and zinc, as well as B vitamins, vitamins E, 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 talk, time to cook!

Polenta with vegetable and cheese sauce

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

Cooking:
Before you start cooking polenta, make sure you have a thick-walled pot, ideally copper, but a cast-iron pot will do. Pour a liter of water into the cauldron, salt and bring it to a boil. While constantly stirring 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 starts to pull away from the walls and becomes sticky. Put the finished polenta on a round tray or cutting board and give it the desired shape, because. Ready-made polenta is viscous, then this is not difficult to do.

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

Cut the polenta with kitchen string or a pizza cutter, put a piece of polenta on a plate, pour over the cheese sauce, put the vegetable sauce and garnish with cilantro.

Ingredients:
4 things. chicken fillet,
2 tbsp olive oil,
450 gr. champignons,
4 garlic cloves,
125 ml. dry white wine
450 ml chicken stock
2 tbsp chopped green parsley,
black freshly ground pepper,
1 st. coarse cornmeal,
70 ml milk
2 tbsp butter,
1 tsp fresh marjoram,
salt.

Cooking:
Salt and pepper the chicken fillet. 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 fillet 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 more tablespoon of oil in a frying pan, add mushrooms, garlic and salt. Cover and simmer until the mushrooms are juicy, then remove the lid, increase the heat and fry the mushrooms until golden, then pour in the wine and wait for the liquid to evaporate, add the broth and parsley, continue to cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Put the fried chicken fillet to the mushrooms, cover with a lid and simmer over low heat until tender. At this time, prepare the polenta. In an ovenproof dish with a lid, combine 3 cups of water, cornmeal, salt and pepper. Cover the form with a lid and put in the oven for 15 minutes, preheated to 220 degrees. Stir after 15 minutes and return to the oven 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 sauce over everything, garnish with parsley and serve.

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

Cooking:
Pour a liter of water into the cauldron, salt and bring it to a boil. While stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, add the cornmeal to the water, 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. Cut the celery, peel and finely chop the onion and fry 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. Grease a baking dish with butter, put polenta on it, put 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 thanks to its neutral taste, which is excellent with meat, mushrooms, fish and vegetables. Salty, sweet, hot, cold, spicy, polenta will be equally delicious 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 exceed all your expectations, because it is not for nothing that polenta has become a masterpiece of Italian cuisine!