Everyone raves about Italian pizza and pasta, but I believe the polenta deserves as much love as these two. This north Italian dish is made with coarse ground cornmeal and is perfect as a side dish. You can top it with cottage cheese, sour cream, or grilled veggies to make the main dish.
The polenta is a kind of porridge. Although it is not traditionally served as an oatmeal porridge for the breakfast, I like sometimes to enjoy some warm polenta early in the morning.
A perfectly cooked polenta is an excellent side dish that goes very well with beef steak, chicken breast or even fish dishes.
Contents
What are different types of polenta?
Polenta is ground cornmeal, but there are two types of polenta, coarsely and finely ground. If you have a coarsely ground polenta, you can process one in a food processor until you have a finer polenta. You can sift it before use to get a smooth polenta dish.
How to avoid lumps in the polenta?
There is no big secret – you just have to stir polenta while you add it. You cannot pour a mound of polenta into the water. I also like to add some olive oil or butter to make the polenta richer in taste and smoother in texture.
How to avoid toot thick polenta?
Just follow the instructions I gave. At the first, the polenta may look runny, but as it cools down, the polenta will thicken, so there is no need for extra cooking.
How to serve polenta?
As mentioned, you can serve polenta as a side dish, with meat cuts, fish, or poultry. If you want to turn polenta into a main dish, top it with cottage cheese, sour cream, Cheddar cheese, and bacon, or grilled veggies.
How to make polenta
Gather your ingredients:
Pour water into Instant Pot. Stir in polenta and salt, and lock lid. Cook polenta on High pressure for 8 minutes.
Stir in olive oil or butter. Serve polenta warm.
- 2 cups coarse polenta
- 2 tbsp salt
- 8 cup water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Add water to the Instant Pot, press "saute" and wait for the water to boil.
- Add polenta flour and salt and stir constantly.
- Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
- When cooking time ends, wait for a natural pressure release.
- Open the lid and stir in olive oil.
- Serve and enjoy 🙂
I love it. I’d drown in it. You can serve it with several dishes like vegetables, chicken, meat etc.
Ha, what a great compliment! Thanks!
You can also pour the hot polenta into a greased shallow baking dish. Smooth out the polenta and let it cool. Place in fridge and let it set and firm up. Cut into squares or circles. Place in a hot saute pan or griddle and brown on both sides. Top with sauce as a main dish.
Thanks for the tip, Dianna!