Simple Polenta

Polenta is a very simple and flavorful dish from Italy, however, corn is native to the America's (as well as tomatoes). The Italians have eagerly adopted the cornmeal and made it into a beautiful dish.

Simple Polenta: Bring 4 cups water to a boil and then sprinkle in 1 cup cornmeal while whisking for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and cover stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes. Once cooked you can stir in a tablespoon of butter and a half cup of grated parmesan cheese(optional) salt to taste.

You can serve the Polenta as a porridge, but I prefer to turn the polenta onto a greased dish and let it cool so it firms up. I then cut it into chunks and serve.

Options abound with Polenta, in the pictured dish I added dried chopped dates to the cornmeal so they cooked with the cornmeal and tasted amazing. The beets were braised in cider vinegar until tender and the dandelion greens were creamed with goat cheese. It was a very good meal!