talk to me about polenta

[NinjaChipmunk]

I've had it once or twice in restaurants and it was v nice but i have no idea how it comes in the supermarket, how to cook it or really what to have it with. can someone enlighten me? i want to try it out at home and not sure where to start...

I buy the quick cook stuff. Basically a powder that you pour into boiling water and stir like mad until it is a bit like stiff grainy mashed potato in texture. You can serve it straight away like mash which is nice but no good in our house and it takes forever to get everyone to the table.
Alternatively you can spread on a chopping board, allow to cool then cut into shapes. Then grill or shallow fry until hot and crispy. Or bake. I serve with tomato sauce. The kids love it, especially when we cut out fun shapes with biscuit cutters. And it's quite nutritious.
You can melt grated cheese into it when it is cooked before it solidifies.
Mmmmm.

'No good in our house because it takes forever to get everyone to the table'

I think polenta is all about what you serve with it, so you need something garlicky/salty/flavoursome or it all ends up a bit bland. A tomato sauce with posh saucisson or pref Italian equivalent or chorizo works really well. Don't stint on the garlic!

You can buy vacuum packs of ready-cooked long life polenta in the supermarket but the quick cook stuff is almost as easy. The vacuum packed stuff is useful as a cupboard standby to slice and fry to have with sausages or chops or leftover bolognese.

I like it with lots of cheese in too, and my veg-hating DD will even eat it with frozen spinach stirred in at the end of cooking and then fried. You can also add something like chopped sun-dried tomatoes or olives for a bit more taste if you want.

thanks for the pointers on this,the suggestions sound very tasty. i may purchase a pack of quick cook tomorrow. its always good to add another food to the weekly menu list!

So is that yellow pack that looks like a solid block in the supermarket actually grainy sutff?

my friend is gluten free

we sometimes have a lasgne and use polenta instead of pasta... delicious

So is that yellow pack that looks like a solid block in the supermarket actually grainy sutff?

It's solid but if you heat it up it goes like mashed potato only grainy. Or you can slice and fry it.

polenta's all about how much flavour you can get in to it so don't skimp on the stock, salt, pepper,chilli, parmesan,olive oil herbs etc. Put a whole bulb of garlic in the pot and when soft squash it against side of pan to get its tasty gubbins out. Ditto the rind left from some parmesan. It'll add flavour and when the left over cheese melts you can scrape off the goo that would otherwise have gone in the bin. Yum! It's nice soft like that but better fried as suggested. Crispy!

i use it instead of breadcrumbs to cook chicken nuggets.