Polenta Wedges with Basil and Tomato
These went down a treat when I made them. Who says all starches are made the same?
These went down a treat when I made them. Who says all starches are made the same?
- Carbohydrate 3.07676221588074 g
- Cholesterol 1.26744615954707 mg
- Fat 0.62975024777419 g
- Fiber 0.546884634544452 g
- Protein 1.02655113419319 g
- Saturated Fat 0.279404462193074 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (35g)
- Sodium 24.6197416054636 mg
- Sugar 2.52987758133628 g
- Trans Fat 0.0573419397702601 g
- Calories 21 calories
Step-by-step
- Grease and line a 28 x35cm (11"x14") baking tray with baking paper and olive oil and set aside. Bring one litre of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add polenta in a steady stream, stirring continuously to prevent lumps. Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer, stirring regularly for 15 minutes or until the polents comes away from the sides of the pot.
- Stir in the Parmesan and season to taste. Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Leave to set for about an hour.
- Once it has set, turn the baking tray over and turn the polenta on to a wooden board. Cut into 5cm squares and then in half to form triangles.
- Heat a griddle pan until hot and cook the triangles for a few minutes on each side to char lightly. Top with basil leaf, cherry tomatoes, a spoonful of pesto and some shaved parmesan.
- To make polenta sushi, cook polenta and pour into a greased 20x30cm (8"x12") baking tray. Once it has set, use a small scone cutter to cut rounds of polenta. Cut a smaller circle out of the middle of each round and stuff with strips of carrot, peppers and courgettes. Wrap a layer of blanched spinach or Parma ham around the outside.
Substituting fine cornmeal for coarsely ground yellow cornmeal yields a completely smooth, paste-like texture that lacks the traditional toothsome grit characteristic of classic Northern Italian polenta preparations. Cooking cornmeal requires continuous agitation during the hydration phase because starch granules rapidly swell and gelatinize between 60 and 85 degrees Celsius, creating dense pockets that trap pockets of dry flour if left unattended. When the hot porridge incorporates aged, umami-rich parmesan cheese, the glutamates in the dairy lipid matrix bond with the natural corn sweetness to establish a savory baseline.
- Maintain a steady, slow stream of dry cornmeal into boiling water while whisking vigorously to eliminate lumps before gelatinization locks them in place.
- Simmer the mixture for precisely 15 minutes to allow the starch molecules to fully hydrate and unwind, which ensures the resulting slab achieves structural integrity upon cooling.
- Allow the poured polenta to rest undisturbed for 60 minutes at room temperature until the starches retrograde and form a firm, sliceable block.
- Preheat the cast-iron griddle until wisps of smoke appear before searing the cut triangles, ensuring the exterior proteins undergo the Maillard reaction without sticking to the metal surface.
- Balance the rich, fat-heavy profile of the cheese and olive oil by utilizing acidic cherry tomatoes and herbaceous pesto, which provide contrasting bright notes that cut through the density of the cooked starch.
Precision when cutting the chilled sheet into 5-centimeter squares guarantees uniform heat distribution across the griddle surface. Acidic components from the fresh tomatoes and pesto actively balance the high lipid content contributed by the cheese and initial oil coating.
