Italian cuisine is rich in interesting, tasty and uncomplicated dishes. One of these is polenta. Recipes for its preparation are known since when the dish was still considered the food of the poor. This is not surprising, since the classic set of products is very simple: corn grits, water and salt. Let's look at the original polenta recipes.
Classical polenta
Recipes always have a basis. For polenta, the basis is corn grits. Whatever the additional ingredients, the polenta itself will have to be baked first. Use a pan with a thick bottom or a cauldron. Bring water to a boil, salt. Slowly pour the cereal and stir. Set the fire to maximum, this will help prevent the formation of lumps. After you fill the cereal, turn off the gas. Boil for half an hour. Do not forget to mix the polenta. It should thicken and begin to lag behind the walls of the pan. After that, put the finished porridge on a dish - let it cool. Then the polenta is cut into portions.
Mushroom polenta
The recipes of this polenta are plentiful. It can be done with any mushrooms: ceps, champignons, mushrooms. Let 's prepare a dish with chanterelles. The basis is already cooked polenta. For the sauce you need to take it: fresh or canned tomatoes, chanterelles, champignons, mozzarella, white wine, butter and olive oil, onions, seasonings. In a pan in olive oil, sauté the onions and garlic, previously chopped. Add chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, saffron. Salt, pepper. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. After the pan has been removed from the heat, add parsley and thyme. Cut the finished polenta into pieces. Anoint the mold with butter, put the polenta in it, and slices of mozzarella cheese and ready-made mushroom stew on it. In the oven, hold the dish at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. After the specified time, the dish will be ready.
Polenta - recipe with minced meat
Make a hearty and tasty meat polenta. To do this, take ground beef, salsa sauce, butter, onions, parmesan, seasonings. Melt the butter. Fry the onion and minced meat in it. Add salsa, a small amount of water and simmer for a few minutes. Put melted butter in the mold, chop the sliced polenta on it, sprinkle with parmesan on top, spread the meat filling layer, followed by the polenta layer, cheese, and the minced meat again. The top layer can be any. It must be sprinkled with cheese and pour melted butter. In the oven, the cake will stand for half an hour at a temperature of 150 degrees.
Polenta with squidFor this dish you will need squid, green peas, tomatoes, white wine, olive oil, capers, garlic, herbs, salt, pepper and cooked polenta. Seafood recipes can be changed by adding certain types of ingredients. This list of products can be supplemented, for example, with shrimp. In a pan, fry large pieces of garlic, peeled and chopped squid (shrimp), pour a glass of white wine, evaporate. Add the tomatoes. They should be freed from the skin and cut into small pieces. Stew for 20 minutes. Throw garlic, add greens (parsley, dill), peas and capers. Hold for a few more minutes, add to the hot polenta.
Sweet and spicy, hot and cold - in any form, a good polenta. The recipe with a photo clearly demonstrates what a finished dish can be if you show a little imagination.