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Polenta concia — creamy fontina polenta in a vintage bowl, served as a side dish

Polenta Concia (Creamy Polenta with Cheese)

An intensely creamy polenta made from basic polenta cornmeal, milk, velvety fontina cheese and butter. It easy to make and comes together in under an hour.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 37 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 15 small plates
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 cups yellow corn meal for polenta 250g (8 oz)
  • 4 cups water or more
  • 1 tsp sea salt plus to taste
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper plus to taste
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 3 oz Fontina cheese (trimmed rind), small cubes (or other meltable cheese)
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed room temp ideal

Method
 

Make Polenta Base
  1. Place water and salt in a large pot. Before turning on heat, whisk in polenta and break up any lumps.
  2. Next, turn burner up to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the polenta starts to bubble.
  3. Turn down burner to low heat, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Stir often and make sure to break up any lumps.
    If the polenta becomes too thick and starts sticking, add a little more water.
  4.  Stir the milk into the polenta to loosen. Keep stirring slowly and allow the milk to absorb.
  5. **Pause at this point if you are going to store and serve at a later time or day. Place in a container with a lid, and refrigerate until ready to heat up. **
Finishing Polenta
  1. ** If finishing after refrigerating polenta**
    About 30 minutes prior to serve, begin heating up polenta in a large pot over medium heat.
    The polenta will be stiff and a bit solid. Stir to loosen up and break into smaller chunks.
  2. Continue stirring to evenly heat. Polenta should become creamy and start bubbling.
  3. Add cubed butter and stir until full melted. This should further loosen the mixture.
  4. Add the cheese and continue stirring until melted.
  5. Taste for seasoning - add in salt and black pepper to taste.
  6. Serve immediately. It will be very hot, but will stay creamy while warm and begin to stiffen as it cools.