I sometimes do regular polenta soft and sometimes firm but this is a very special polenta recipe that I found many years ago and have tweaked a bit and I created the following two recipes to top it:

[note: this assumes that when you say you bought "polenta", you mean you bought the corn grits to make it versus the already made gooey stuff in a sausage-type bag; but I may be wrong and you DID buy the already made polenta.]

POLENTA, BASIC

1 cup cornmeal -- yellow, coarse grind
1 cup cold water
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth -- clear
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, part skim milk -- grated

Mix corn meal and cold water thoroughly.

Bring vegetable broth, salt, and olive oil to boil. Add corn meal blend very slowly, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and cook polenta for 20 minutes or until thick, stirring continuously.

Polenta is done when it begins to pull from the bottom and sides of the pan.

Remove from heat, add mozzarella, cover, shake pan to loosen polenta from the bottom. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Pour polenta into shallow casserole dish (spray with olive oil spray).

Refrigerate for use later, serve as is with butter and parmesan, or broil or bake with topping.

Serving Ideas : Serve with mixed Italian vegetables (MEDITERRANEAN TOPPING, below) or Italian sausage or just good marinara.

NOTES : See also Mexican version.

MEDITERRANEAN TOPPING

2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion -- chopped
1/2 green bell pepper -- chopped
1/2 red bell pepper -- chopped
1 tablespoon hot green Italian pepper -- minced
1 small stalk celery -- chopped
1 cup eggplant -- cubed
2 small zucchini -- chopped
2 cloves garlic -- minced or pressed
1/4 pound mushrooms -- quartered
1 medium tomato -- chopped, de-juiced
2 tablespoons parsley -- fresh, chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper -- fresh milled
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon oregano
6 Kalamata olives -- pitted, sliced

Heat butter and olive oil in large skillet over high heat.

Add onion, bell peppers, hot pepper, and celery. Saute 2-5 minutes until onion is soft.

Add eggplant, zucchini, garlic, and mushrooms. Toss regularly and cook 5 minutes.

Add tomato, parsley, black pepper, basil, and oregano. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add olives just before serving.

Serving Ideas : Serve over polenta, rice, or potatoes, or as a side dish

NOTES : For topping polenta, broil polenta first for 5 minutes, then top with vegetables and parmesan cheese, and bake for 10 minutes at 400 F.

For topping two baked potatoes, cut this recipe by half.

MEXICAN BEAN TOPPING

2 tablespoons oil
1/4 cup onion -- chopped
2 cloves garlic -- minced
2 cans Pinto beans -- undrained
2 cans black beans -- undrained
16 ounces tomatoes, canned -- diced + juices
1/2 cup salsa -- chunky, mild*
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon cumin

In large sauce pan, saute onion in oil over medium heat until soft. Add and saute garlic.

Add all other ingredients, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Liquid should be reduced to gravy consistency.

Serving Ideas : Serve over Mexican polenta, eggs, quesadillas, or as a dip

NOTES : * or use whatever heat level you wish

Top with minced cilantro before serving

Joe

In the swap a year ago, Fall, I received a wonderful cookbook by Jack Bishop called "The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook." In it he has a whole chapter on polenta. He has an easy way to prepare basic polenta that has worked every time I've made it. Granted, I haven't made it all that often, but it's funny you brought this up, because I've been hankering for it. Here's his method of making polenta, and I'll follow with one of the recipes I've used out of his book for the topping. By the way, I was able to find a package of polenta cornmeal in the baking section of the grocery store. It's probably priced too high, but that way I was sure to get the right texture of corn meal. Much of the corn meal sold is too finely ground to work well as polenta.

Basic Soft Polenta

Salt
1 cup medium-grind cornmeal
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Pour 4 cups water into a medium, heavy saucepan set over high heat. When the water comes to a boil, add 1 teaspoon salt and lower the heat to medium. Whisk in the cornmeal in a slow, steady stream. This should take almost 1 minute. Make sure to shisk the cornmeal continuously to prevent lumps from forming. cntinue whisking as the cornmeal comes back to a boil. Simmer, whisking constantly, until the polenta starts to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Reduce the heat until the polenta is at the barest simmer. Cover the pot and cook very slowly, stirring with a long handled wooden spoon every 10 minutes or so, until the cornmeal loses it's raw flavor, 35 to 40 minutes.

3. Stir in the butter until melted and add more salt if needed. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately.

Here's the dish I've made from this book that I really loved.

Polenta with Garlicky Greens

2 cups medium-grind cornmeal
Salt
1 1/2 pounds chard, preferable with red veins
1 1/2 pounds flat-leaf spinach
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
6 medium garlic cloves, slivered
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Cook the cornmeal in 8 cups simmering water with 2 teaspoons salt added as described in steps 1 and 2 above.

2. While the polenta is cooking, removed and discard the stems from the chard and spinach. Tear off the green portions from either side of the rib that runs down the center of each chard leaf. Discard the ribs. Tear any large chard and spinach leaves in half. Wash the leaves in successive bowls of cold water until grit no longer appears in the bottom of the bowl. Shake the leaves to remove excess water but do not dry them. Set aside.

3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and saute over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until golden, about 2 minutes.

4. Add the reens to the pan. Stir to coat the leaves with the oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook, stirring 2 or 3 times, until the greens are tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the cover and simmer until some of the liquid evaporates, t2 or 3 minutes. The greens should be moist but not swimming in liquid.

5. When the polenta has finished cooking, stir in the butter and add more salt if needed. Divide the polenta among large individual bowls. Spoon some of the greens over each portion. Serve immediately.

Bishop has a whole chapter on polenta, but I haven't gotten around to making the other recipes. I think I'll try one of them soon. They all look good.

Enjoy!

Sally

I do polenta with greens too, but don't have a specific recipe.

I make the polenta ahead of time and let it cool and set in a pan.

Then I saute mixed greens with bacon lardoons, onion, garlic and mushrooms and add a bit of thickened stock as a sauce.

Or, for a vegetarian dish, I make a shitake mushroom stock and leave out the bacon.

When the greens are almost ready, I brown the wedges or squares of cooled polenta in a heavy iron fry pan, and serve them with the greens.

MMM, these all sound good, especially the Medierranean and the garlicky greens!

Thanks, I can't wait to try them all!

Linda

Linda, I tried this Rachael Ray recipe and it's really good:

Tarragon-Cream Chicken and Polenta Pot Pies
Rachael Ray, 2007
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2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery with the greens, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 cups chicken stock, divided
1 cup cream, divided
1/2 cup quick cooking polenta, plus more, if needed*
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
6 sprigs fresh tarragon, stripped and chopped, 3 to 4 tablespoons
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

In a deep skillet heat 2 turns of the pan extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and lightly brown, 3 minutes, add carrots, onions, and celery as you chop. Season with salt and pepper and cook 10 to 12 minutes to soften.

Preheat broiler. Set rack in middle of oven.

Bring 1 cup chicken stock and 1/2 cup cream to a boil, stir in polenta and whisk, 3 minutes. Turn heat low, stir in Gruyere cheese and reserve.

*Cook's Note: You may need up to 3/4 to 1 cup of polenta to fill the tops of your soup bowls or use some more of the remaining stock.

Scoot meat and veggies off to side, melt butter and combine with flour 1 minute. Whisk in 2 cups stock and combine, stir in 1/2 cup cream and bring to a bubble. Stir in Dijon, tarragon, peas and adjust salt and pepper and transfer to soup bowls. Set soup bowls on baking dish. Form tops to your pot pies with the polenta and cheese mixture. Set under broiler and brown 2 to 3 minutes.

My favorite childhood memories are Friday nights at my grandparent's house (Italian Catholic). Grandma would have her huge pasta pot going with a big wooden spoon making polenta. When it started to thicken grandpa would have to help stir. They would spread it out on a big wooden board on the kitchen table. All us kids would make shapes as we ate it. We always loved it plain.

I love polenta. I don't follow a recipe with measurements. I just bring a pot of chicken broth to a simmer. Season it with garlic and sometimes fresh sage, salt and pepper and add enough corn meal (depending on how much chicken broth). Cook until done and add butter and fresh grated parmesan.

I usually serve