How To Make Polenta Cakes

Fried polenta is a traditional side dish popular in Northern Italian republic made with leftover polenta. Crispy outside and creamy within, it is an easy gluten-free replacement for the pasta to serve with rich meat or vegetable stew or ragu. Traditionally, it is often served with cheese and mushrooms.

Fired polenta sticks sprinkled with Parmesan cheese

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What is polenta
Why fried polenta
Types of polenta and ingredients
Instructions
When to serve it
Substitutions
Variations
Equipment
Storage
FAQ
📋 Italian Crispy Pan Fried Polenta

What is polenta

Polenta is boiled cornmeal like a warm porridge that Italians similar to eat with plenty of melted cheese or serve as a side dish to stews.

Because of its consistency and mild taste, polenta combines well with sauces and melted cheese as information technology absorbs the flavour and juices.

A similar dish was originally made in Mesopotamia with millet and rye, in Hellenic republic with barley flour, while the Romans used spelt.

After Columbus brought back corn from the Americas, polenta was fabricated with cornflour.

As it was a very profitable cultivation, the utilise of corn quickly spread into Europe, Africa, and Asia.

The polenta was traditionally a lower-grade meal, often being combined with elementary ingredients.

For example:

Polenta taragna fabricated with corn and buckwheat and served with cheese
Polenta osei served with birds
Polenta alla contadina served with pork cracklings
Polenta pasticciata served with a mix of different types of meat stew

Polenta is very mutual in the norther part of Italy: Piemonte, Lombardia, Veneto.

I served polenta with an former recipe: chocolate wild boar stew, from a famous Italian cookbook from the 19th century by Pellegrino Artusi.

Why fried polenta

Fried polenta is usually washed with leftover polenta.

Polenta takes a long time to brand as it requires stirring for about 1 hour, so polenta is often made in big quantities.

When polenta cools down, information technology solidifies and it is not as easy to warm upwards.

It tin can be cut into dissimilar forms: round, foursquare, rectangular and it volition proceed its shape.

By cutting polenta into smaller shapes, it is easier to warm up.

While it stays warm and flossy in the center, it forms a nice crispy crust on the outside.

Polenta cakes tin be either fried or baked.

In this recipe, we are frying information technology.

Types of polenta and ingredients

At that place are 3 different types of polenta in Italy:

Polenta Taragna - made with corn and buckwheat ordinarily served with cheese and butter
Polenta Bramata - fabricated with coarse grain ordinarily served with meat
White Polenta - made with white corn is usually served with fish

For this recipe, you lot can use either type of polenta depending on what you want to serve information technology with.

Note: I served information technology with grilled scamorza cheese so I used the Polenta Taragna.

Butter and olive oil for frying: I similar to mix olive oil and butter every bit the butter gives the polenta a nice flavor
Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top while still warm

See the recipe card for quantities.

Here I serve the fried polenta with grilled Scamorza cheese and stir-fried porcini and white button mushrooms.

If it is not porcini season now y'all tin use dry porcini. You tin find out how to apply dry porcini in my next recipe.

polenta served with grilled scamorza and porcini mushrooms

Instructions

Make the polenta

Fill up a large cauldron with salted h2o and bring to boil.
In one case it is boiling add the polenta gradually stirring with a wooden spoon, making sure there are no lumps.
Stir continuously for l minutes to 1 hour until the polenta detaches from the edges of the pot. If you elevator the spoon it will stay attached.
Pour the polenta over a big wooden base of operations or over a large oven tin covered with greased foil. You lot tin can brush it with some olive oil.
Spread flat and uniformly with a spoon.
Look for the polenta to absurd down completely, about i hr.

Hint: if you desire to get in perfectly flat cover the polenta with parchment paper and roll information technology with a rolling pin.

Frying the polenta

Cut the polenta into rectangular sticks (three'X1.5' - 8cm X 4cm)
In a pan warm up olive oil and butter
Identify the polenta cakes and fry
Plough onto the other side one time the polenta gets a chocolate-brown color
Identify on a serving plate
Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese while nonetheless warm and serve immediately

Hint: I similar to fry the polenta with a mix of olive oil and butter as using both gives the polenta more flavor. If you adopt you can use merely one or the other or use vegetable oil for a milder flavor.

When to serve information technology

For Italians, fried polenta is usually made with polenta leftovers and it is served equally a side dish to accompany the primary dish, usually stew or ragu.

Likewise, fried polenta is oft served as a quick meal with melted cheese and mushrooms.

Information technology is usually served for dinner on a cold wintertime solar day or after an exhausting day of skiing in the Alps.

Italians would non accept it at breakfast, as traditional Italian breakfast is mainly sweet. Yet, it is an excellent vegetarian breakfast.

Substitutions

Polenta is vegan and gluten-free then it is suitable for many diets.

You lot tin substitute polenta with grits. In Italy, this is called semolina.

While polenta is made from yellow corn, semolina is fabricated with white corn.

Polenta has a more crumbly and coarser grind, while semolina is effectively, smoother, and easier to digest. A corking remedy for an upset breadbasket.

Though, some Italians don't like semolina equally they associate it with being ill.

Variations

You lot can also make this recipe using:

Polenta tube - y'all can buy set up cooked polenta shaped into tubes. You but need to cut it in slices and fry them. A great short cutting, but of course the flavor of homemade polenta is much better.
Deep frying - instead of frying the polenta in a pan yous can also use a deep fryer.
Baked polenta - for an healthier option you can bake the polenta. Top it with some butter and Parmesan cheese earlier blistering it so it volition class a nice crunchy crust.

Equipment

Traditionally polenta was cooked on a cauldron "Paiolo" over the fire and stirred constantly for an hour with a wooden spoon chosen "cannella".

As you need to stir polenta for a long time, I have Oxo wooden spoons which accept comfortable handles.

The Paiolo is unremarkably a copper cauldron equally information technology is a great heat conductor.

It cooks the polenta thoroughly without altering its flavor and prevents the polenta from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

If yous do non want to stir for an hour yous tin can purchase an electric copper cauldron.

In one case cooked, the polenta is placed over a wooden cut lath and served with the repast. I prefer the cutting board with a edge to collect the juices.

Storage

You can store fried polenta in the fridge for upwardly to 3 days sealed into a plastic container every bit it volition tend to dry out.

You tin can heat information technology upward in the oven before serving it to make it crispy again.

Polenta is not suitable for the freezer every bit it retains too much water.

FAQ

How do y'all prevent the polenta from sticking?

Make certain that you utilise a pan with loftier oestrus thermal conductivity such as copper or cast iron. Practice NOT utilize steel pots.

What to serve with polenta?

Anything juicy: sauces, melted cheese, meat, and vegetable stews.

Tin I use instant polenta?

Instant polenta is not as good as the regular polenta only I know that stirring for one 60 minutes tin be exhausting. So, it is upwardly to y'all, knowing yous miss out on flavor. Alternatively, you lot tin purchase an electrical cauldron.

If you are making the Italian crispy pan fried polenta, go out your annotate below I would like to hear from you. Y'all tin find more succulent ideas if you lot FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.

Fried polenta sprinkled with Parmesan

Cook Way Prevent your screen from going dark

Make the polenta

Fill a large cauldron with salted water and bring to boil.

4 cup water, i/2 tbsp common salt
Once it is boiling add the polenta gradually stirring with a wooden spoon, making certain there are no lumps.

two loving cup Polenta Taragna
Stir continuously for 50 minutes to 1 hour until the polenta detaches from the edges of the pot. If you lift the spoon it will stay attached.
Cascade the polenta over a large wooden base of operations or over a large oven tin covered with greased foil. Y'all tin can brush it with some olive oil.
Spread flat and uniformly with a spoon.
Look for the polenta to cool down completely, about 1 hour.

Frying the polenta

Cutting the polenta into rectangular sticks (3'X1.5' - 8cm X 4cm)
In a pan warm up olive oil and butter

1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp butter
Place the polenta cakes and fry
Plow onto the other side one time the polenta gets a brown color
Place on a serving plate
Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese while still warm and serve immediately

freshly grated Parmesan

Every bit a shortcut, you can either purchase instant polenta which needs only 15 minutes to make, or the already made tube polenta
If yous want to make it perfectly flat cover it with parchment newspaper and roll it with a rolling pin.
I similar to fry the polenta with a mix of olive oil and butter as they give more flavor. If y'all adopt yous can use simply ane or the other or utilise vegetable oil for a milder flavour.