Polenta Experiment
March 7th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Sometimes, I just do things in the kitchen. I get an idea in my head, like how delicious this kabocha squash is gonna taste because I found this one mouth-watering recipe. But then it turns into a demoralizing lesson. Like, you need to learn how to cut squash. And it’s not a good idea to experiment with a recipe for a food you’ve never eaten before.
Other times, it works out.
This, was one of those times. It’s the end of the weekend, which means grocery shopping time. Most of the vegetables had been eaten and the peanut butter was nearly out. I pulled out the box of instant polenta that had been languishing in the cupboard for the past couple months and decided today’s the day I try this out.
Also in the cupboard: a carton of tomato and roasted red pepper soup from Trader Joe’s. Together, LUNCH!
The soup was a no-brainer, just heat-and-eat. The polenta, though. I had a vision in my head of what I’d tried in restaurants. The polenta had been baked or fried, roughly the size and shape of a fat fish stick with pesto or marinara sauce to dip it in. Meanwhile, I was whisking this together in a pot on the stove.
As the polenta thickened in the sauce pan the more I whisked, the more Fontina cheese I added, the more I caught on. Duh. Clearly, the polenta, the consistency of oatmeal, was not getting picked up and dipped into anything. Unless I took the extra step to bake it, which wasn’t happening, as the soup was bubbling.
I ladled out the soup (of which I had added green onions, a little dried basil, and ground black pepper) in a bowl and eyeballed the pot of jiggly polenta, considering for a moment serving in on a plate like mashed potatoes before laziness got the better of me (didn’t want to clean two more dishes) and I scooped it up and dumped it right in the soup. It remained suspended in the center, like it was treading.
I added a little Parmesan and dug in. The polenta functioned like a dumpling, giving the soupy soup a buttery oompf and texture.
Lo! A mean is created!
Polenta recipe:
Though the box of polenta I bought had instructions on it, I ignored them and followed a recipe in How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson (a cookbook I’ll be referencing a lot):
*for two
1/2 C instant polenta
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tbs. butter
1/2 C Fontina cheese
ground black pepper
Parmesan
Boil 2 cups of water over medium-high heat. Add salt, and whisking constantly, add polenta in a steady stream. Continue whisking until the polenta thickens to a soft but not soup consistency, about 1-2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in butter, pepper to taste, and Fontina. Serve immediately.
(In your favorite soup, with Parmesan sprinkled on top).
