Basic Polenta Recipe
(From Fine Cooking Feb/Mar 1999)

- Serves three to four as a side dish.
- If you're doubling the recipe, double the cook time.
- Use only water and no milk if you're making polenta to use a few days from now - it will keep better this way.

1 cup medium-course or coarse cornmeal, preferably organic stone-ground (note: keep cornmeal in freezer to preserve freshness)
3 to 6 cups water (or half water, half milk) depending on the desired consistency (see chart below)
1 Tbs. butter or olive oil
1 tsp salt; more to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 3-qt nonstick ovenproof skillet; pour in the cornmeal, water, milk (if using), butter or oil, and salt. Stir with a fork until blended. The mixture will separate and take more than half the cooking time to come together.

Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.

Stir the polenta, taste, add salt if needed, and bake for another 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let the polenta rest in the pan for 5 minutes.

Pour into a buttered bowl to scoop out and serve, or onto a wooden board or pizza peel to slice into wedges.

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Polenta Consistency Chart:

Consistency/How to serve/proportions
very soft (polentina)/in a bowl, plain, or with toppings/6 parts liquid to 1 part cornmeal
soft/in a bowl, plain or with toppings; as a bed for stews and ragouts/5 parts liquid to 1 part cornmeal
firm/as a bed for stews and ragouts; to cool and slice into wedges to fry or broil and serve with toppings/4 parts liquid to 1 part cornmeal
very firm/to cool and slice into wedges to fry, broil, or grill and serve with toppings/3 to 3-1/2 parts liquid to 1 part cornmeal

Note: I like mind at a medium consistency, so I use 4 1/2 parts liquid to 1 part cornmeal - it is firm enough that you can fry it a little in oil and firm it up, but soft enough that when cooked in a casserole, it's nice and soft without being runny.