Wonderfully Creamy Polenta can be served as a side dish or used instead of mashed potatoes or pasta as pure comfort food. It is a flavorful warming dish from Northern Italy that goes together with gravy or sauce like magic.
Have you tried polenta before? It is very easy to make, and with the addition of just a bit of cream cheese, it is creamy and delicious. Goat cheese could be substituted for a little more tang!
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What Does Creamy Polenta Taste Like?
Creamy polenta tastes like a thick cornmeal porridge with a hint of cheese and the lovely mouthfeel of olive oil. It tastes akin to cornmeal bread or muffins but definitely not the same texture.
The flavor is of corn and has a slight sweetness to it, even without sugar. It goes perfectly with many savory main courses and is such a nice change-up for any season.
What is Creamy Polenta Made of?
Simple ingredients for this polenta, and it is completely gluten-free also by using pure cornmeal products. If you omit the cream cheese or use a substitute, it has moved from vegetarian to vegan too!
*If you only have stone-ground cornmeal, you can pulse ½ cup in a food processor until it is a very fine texture, rather than using the 1/2 of cornmeal flour.
Ingredients
Stoneground yellow cornmeal, this is a coarsely ground cornmeal, the same you would use to make cornbread
Cornmeal flour*, this is a much finer cornmeal and helps to make the creamy polenta recipe even better
Water, just plain old boiling water is all it takes, you can use chicken stock, but I find it overpowers the polenta
Sea salt and pepper to taste, pepper is optional
Cream cheese, you can substitute goat cheese or butter and cheese like Parmesan
Olive oil, some people like to add butter, but a true polenta from Italy will have olive oil
How do you Make Polenta from Scratch?
In a medium pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer and slowly add the polenta and cornmeal flour, whisking constantly.
Add another ½ cup of water and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often.
If the polenta seems too thick, add more water as needed while continuing to stir.
Your polenta should be creamy after 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the cream cheese and mix to combine.
Gentle stir in the olive oil and sea salt.
Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. This gorgeous side dish is now ready in under 30 minutes. Fast and perfectly simple to make.
Season with additional salt to taste and serve.
How to Reheat Creamy Polenta
The polenta starts to thicken as it sits and cools, so you may need to reheat it gently in the microwave or on the stove and add a little more water before serving if you have made it too far in advance. Use a wooden spoon at this point now to stir instead of the whisk.
By adjusting the water, you will have it as thick or thin as you like, but the polenta will still stay creamy and lovely. If desired, you can reheat with a little milk also.
What to Serve Polenta With?
Traditionally you will see polenta served with a ragu or a medley of mushrooms like in our Mushroom Ragout Over Cream Polenta, but really the sky is the limit for this amazing side dish.
Try it with these ideas too:
Great side dish for Roasted Lamb
Wonderful with Chicken Cacciatore
Scrumptious with Meatballs of any kind (think Swedish, Italian, or even an Indian-inspired meatball)
Something new for Swiss Steak
Or a new twist for Traditional Beef Rouladen instead of Spaetzle
Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy would marry gorgeously too
Or come up with your own medley of ingredients like sauteed squash, sausage, kale, onions, and more! Why not cheddar, jalapenos, chorizo, and cotija for a Mexican spin! Want to keep it vegetarian, then try Roasted Grape Tomatoes, Roasted Italian Tomatoes, Roasted Cauliflower, or a medley of Grilled Vegetables work great too.
Anything that has a nice gravy or sauce goes well too. You may want to try a red pesto or a green pesto that adds kick and flavor. Think of it as a substitute for not only pasta and mashed potatoes but for rice also.
Pin it HERE!!
Pin it HERE!!
Wonderfully Creamy Polenta
Ingredients
- ½ cup stone ground polenta
- ½ cup cornmeal flour*
- 4 ½ – 5 ½ cups water divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup cream cheese
Instructions
- In a medium pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and slowly add the polenta and cornmeal flour, whisking constantly.
- Add another ½ cup of water and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often.
- If the polenta seems too thick, add more water as needed while continuing to stir.
- Your polenta should be creamy after 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the cream cheese and mix to combine.
- Gentle stir in the olive oil and sea salt.
- Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. This gorgeous side dish is now ready in under 30 minutes. Fast and perfectly simple to make.
- Season with additional salt to taste and serve.
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