Polenta edit

1 hr 20 mins

4 persons

The polenta is a traditional recipe from northern Italy and it’s very popular especially in Valtellina.
Since time immemorial, polenta has been considered peasant food: it’s nothing more than a mixture of water and grain flour, cooked in a special pot, called "paiolo".
Polenta can be made not only from cornmeal, as generally thought, but also from other cereals or even chestnuts.
The origins of polenta go back to the time when Christopher Columbus, on his way back from America, introduced corn to Europe. Columbus explained that American natives made a mixture of cornmeal and water, that was cooked with the addition of sauces, legumes, meat or cheese.
Once introduced, corn grew abundantly in the north of the Italian peninsula and became the staple of peasants and poor people, as it was plentiful and cheap.
The polenta has a neutral taste, easy to use, so peasants invented thousands of ways to combine it with already existing dishes. With the passing of time, polenta even replaced bread, which was too expensive.
At a certain point, polenta became such a popular dish, that in some places they ate nothing else; for this reason, the outbreak of pellagra mostly struck people who lived on polenta and nothing else, because they lacked essential nutrients.
Nowadays, there are a number of great polenta-based recipes: fried polenta, polenta e osei (polenta and small birds), polenta concia (polenta cooked with cheese and butter) and polenta taragna (buckwheat polenta cooked with butter and cheese).


Water 2 liters
Olive oil, EVO 1 tablespoon
Salt 1 tablespoon
Cornmeal, stone ground 500 grams
NUTRITION INFO [per Serving]
It provides 510KCal equal to about 25% of DV


It provides 12g equal to about 16% of DV


It provides 512g equal to about 51% of DV


It provides 24mg equal to about 2% of DV


It provides 91g equal to about 30% of DV


It provides 12g equal to about 47% of DV


It provides 4mg equal to about 20% of DV


It provides 139mg equal to about 34% of DV


It provides 2g equal to about 2% of DV


It provides 1818mg equal to about 75% of DV


It provides 281mg equal to about 28% of DV


It provides 403mg equal to about 11% of DV


It provides 11g equal to about 11% of DV


Saturated Fat
It provides 2g equal to about 8% of DV


It provides 4mg equal to about 26% of DV


Vitamin C
It provides 0mg equal to about 0% of DV


It provides 375µg equal to about 24% of DV


It provides 116µg equal to about 6% of DV


It provides 3mg equal to about 15% of DV


Vitamin B6
It provides 738µg equal to about 36% of DV


It provides 43µg equal to about 10% of DV


Vitamin B12
It provides 0µg equal to about 0% of DV


Vitamin A
It provides 0µg equal to about 0% of DV


Vitamin E
It provides 1mg equal to about 9% of DV


Vitamin D
It provides 0µg equal to about 0% of DV


Vitamin K
It provides 2µg equal to about 2% of DV


Fatty acids Monounsaturated
It provides 5g equal to about 12% of DV


Fatty acids Polyunsaturated
It provides 3g equal to about 22% of DV


Trans fats
It provides 0mg equal to about 0% of DV


It provides 0mg equal to about 0% of DV


It provides 0mg equal to about 0% of DV


More Nutrients



To prepare the polenta, begin by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil on a high flame. Then add 1 tablespoon of coarse salt, 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and the cornmeal, a little at a time, to avoid the formation of lumps, and stir with a wooden spoon. 


Keep stirring in the same direction, to bring the cornmeal together. If the polenta is too thick and firm, add a ladle of hot water to make it thinner. 


Stir constantly for about 40 minutes, until it comes off the sides; theoretically you could serve it at this point, but the more you cook the polenta, the better it gets, so cook for an additional 20 minutes. 


Once ready, pour the polenta onto the traditional wooden cutting board and serve it hot and sliced.

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