Sage and Polenta

When was the last time you used polenta? when was the first time you ate polenta? Unless you were born in Savoie or in Italy, polenta might not even be part of your repertoire. Polenta isn't an universal ingredient  like pasta, noodles or rice. If Italian often claim to have "the best of", it can't really be said that polenta is the best of grains.

 

 

So why post about it, here is the list (I so love list):

 

Why is Polenta an ingredient to keep in the pantry?:

 

With a good recipe, well seasoned and served in small portions, polenta is a tasty addition to a meal.

It's cheap.

Versatile: breakfast, accompaniment, snack, bread etc....

Convenient  on a busy night when you havn't had time to plan nor shop.

 

Then there is the invention factor. Let me explain, polenta is bland enough to be moulded into more or less whatever is required, within reason.

I have got a "as time goes by" recipe which I've used since my teens. Polenta Nest with Creamy Mushrooms. It was born on a poor budget week. What do you do with a small tin of creamed mushrooms? Nestled the content in a flavoured polenta ball-shaped as a nest and there you have it: a prince's ransom.

That recipe, with time evolved into a king's ransom and turned into a more sophisticated version Shiitake & Polenta.

 

There are similarities with the following recipe which is based on a muffin recipe but ended up as a sort of bread/cake, out of necessity. So do forgive me it I don't give it a denomination and just call it

 

Sage and Polenta

Ingredients

take 1/2h to prepare and cook

170 g instant polenta

75 g all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp sage leaves chopped fresh is better, dried will do, a mixture if you wish.

Keep a few extra leaves to place on the top as deco

salt, black pepper

360 g sour cream

2 eggs

Olive oil for the skillet

 

Method

 

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well to combine.
In a skillet lightly fry the extra sage leaves, remove

Add a little more oil replace with the polenta mixture.

Place the sage leave on the top
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked.

Serve hot or cold