Oven Polenta

The first time I tried polenta, it had been fried into strips, and it was crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside, and quite delicious. We do most of our polenta like that, usually baked into whatever form you want it in, but generally not the goopy kind of polenta that you'd get in a restaurant if you ordered something with polenta. Ed likes polenta that is crunchy, but has yet to try the goopy sort, which I was guessing I'd like, given my morning oatmeal routine. In Anna's cookbook, the one that suggested the bean gratin, there was also a recipe for oven polenta. I should mention that I don't particularly like standing over the stove for 40 minutes stirring a pot of bubbling cornmeal, so the idea of being able to plop something in the oven and walk away for 40 minutes, well that sounded right up my alley.

The one problem was that I didn't agree with the measurements in the book, just like with the beans. The recipe called for 3-3/4C water to 1C of polenta, bring to a boil, plop in the oven for 40min, take out, stir, put back in for 10min. Maybe my oven just runs too hot, but after 40min, that puppy was DONE. Any longer and we would have needed a knife and fork to cut through it, instead of just a fork. Definitely not gloopy. So, if you want gloopy (I suppose I could call it creamy, or some other appetizing word like that, instead of gloopy) polenta, take it out after 30 minutes. Or turn down the oven even more.

A truly appetizing photo of yellow gloopy goodness.

Oven polenta
Made ~3 servings

1C coarsely-ground cornmeal (or polenta, which is the same thing, but twice the price)
3-3/4C water
1 tsp kosher salt
~1/4C grated parmesan cheese
Red pepper flakes for sprinkling on top when you serve it
A saucepan you can put in the oven. Alternatively, use two pots - one that you can put in the oven, and one that you can put on the stove.

Preheat your oven to 350F.
Put all the ingredients except cheese in a pot. Bring it to a boil, stir, then put the pot in the oven, uncovered. Set a timer for 30 minutes and walk away.

After 30 minutes, check on your polenta. Take it out and stir it, and if it is as gloopy as you like it, call it done, or if you like it stiffer, return it to the oven for another 10 minutes. Once you like the consistency of it (and it will harden up a bit once its no longer on the heat), take it out of the oven and stir in the cheese. Serve immediately.

Alternatively, press it into a flat layer on a sheet pan, let it cool, then cut it into shapes of your liking, spritz with oil, and bake again, to get crunchy polenta shapes.

The gloopy polenta passed the Ed-test, and it was easy enough that I'll probably do it again. Tasted good, too.