Polenta is really a dish, not an ingredient, from northern Italy and started somewhere around the 16th century as peasant food.
It resembles a porridge or mush and is made from coarsely ground usually yellow cornmeal, however in Venice Italy, white coarsely ground cornmeal is the most popular.
Growing up in the 1960s with an all Italian grandmother (who was born in Rome Italy) she was very accustomed to depression food and made this often when I was a child.
Mom would make a Traditional Sunday Sauce and grandma would use the leftover meatballs and sausage crushed up and poured it over our polenta dish.
That wasn't how she first had hers as a child and it was served just made in boiling water and the cornmeal was served with butter or olive oil if they were lucky to have it.
Later on, sometime around 1910 (when she moved to the USA at 16, to Utica New York which is referred to as Little Italy), she adapted the recipe that would become one of our favorite dinners in the winter months.
Cornmeal is still a very popular grain used in cornbread recipes, and many restaurants use polenta as an appetizer.
We love Polenta Pizzettes, Polenta Lemon Biscotti Cookies, and even used as a coating on potatoes!
Scroll down for this simple yummy recipe, you can make plain or revised with meat sauce simplified.
It resembles a porridge or mush and is made from coarsely ground usually yellow cornmeal, however in Venice Italy, white coarsely ground cornmeal is the most popular.
Growing up in the 1960s with an all Italian grandmother (who was born in Rome Italy) she was very accustomed to depression food and made this often when I was a child.
Mom would make a Traditional Sunday Sauce and grandma would use the leftover meatballs and sausage crushed up and poured it over our polenta dish.
That wasn't how she first had hers as a child and it was served just made in boiling water and the cornmeal was served with butter or olive oil if they were lucky to have it.
Later on, sometime around 1910 (when she moved to the USA at 16, to Utica New York which is referred to as Little Italy), she adapted the recipe that would become one of our favorite dinners in the winter months.
Cornmeal is still a very popular grain used in cornbread recipes, and many restaurants use polenta as an appetizer.
We love Polenta Pizzettes, Polenta Lemon Biscotti Cookies, and even used as a coating on potatoes!
Scroll down for this simple yummy recipe, you can make plain or revised with meat sauce simplified.
