It almost makes you want to double the batch—having these ideas floating around in your head. OR maybe just make a batch of polenta, conveniently forget to serve it, then have the whole bulk of it for leftovers.

Polenta is a fantastic stand-in for pasta or potatoes, rice or risotto—a corny starch alternative. And it pairs fabulously with meat sauces (we adore soft polenta with wild boar ragu).

First, make the polenta. Then with whatever makes it past round one, place in container in fridge (perhaps a square dish, and pat the polenta in from 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick—you will want to slice it later).

Then go-to this list for leftover ideas:

1. I recently found Frank’s blog: Memorie di Angelina (yes its in English, but chock full of Italian food, how-to’s & grandma’s original dishes). His post on polenta is actually what inspired me to write this one about ‘leftovers.’

2. Or… maybe I was just looking for an excuse to re-post one of our family’s all-time favorite dishes: Italian layered dish. Polenta is the cradle upon which this meal rocks.

3. Two vegetarian options from Dish ‘n’ That.

4. Scroll down Rambling Tart’s post to find a recipe and pic of appetizer sized polenta-cheese-roasted pepper bites. I can almost taste them!

5. Oooh here is a quick one: Tartelette had the brilliance to make polenta croutons as as soup-topper!

p.s. Probably more than you wanted to know about polenta, but check out life in Italy in case you are a weirdo like me and always want to know more…

So, what do you like to do with leftover polenta?

I am so excited! My goal was to learn to make focaccia, pizza dough and pasta dough while living in Italy. I figured I could pick up on the nuances of certain foods simply by having the time to cook, repeat and tweak. For example, how many rounds of focaccia will it take to really ‘know my dough.’ Knowing how to make something, to me, has a lot to do with instincts and intuition. I realize many talented chefs out there come poised with such instincts. Before cooking school, I think I had good senses in the kitchen, but school helped me pay attention to my instincts even more. In the end, cooking school did for me what I had hoped: it armed with with methods and supplied me with knowledge to make adjustments and ultimately, to learn to trust my instincts in the kitchen. (Instead of sometimes being intimidated, or not knowing what to do when something didn’t turn out right).

So when I am making a sauce and it is too thick, I can ask myself what are the options for making it thinner? And I taste, and test, and taste again to adjust the seasoning. And that is why figuring out polenta felt so, so good: I did it by feel. And you can too!

The first batch I made per the instructions on the cornmeal package. I used water, followed the recipe and turned out bonafide polenta. Then I used that as a reference: it tasted like polenta made with water. I made it with milk too, which added a little bit of a creamy element but not a lot of taste. Both times the polenta turned out rather firm. The third time really was the charm: I used [homemade] chicken stock and cream (milk and half & half work too) as the liquid.

Below is a recipe to get you started, oh and know that polenta wants to firm up. So if you want to serve it soft (see smallish photo of soft polenta topped with a rich wild boar sauce), you will need to adjust it with more [hot] liquid. And the photo on the top with the big hunk of polenta is the original polenta I made with water. To be fair, the fun in making polenta on the firm side means you can smooth it into a tray overnight, slice it into any shape and size (Christmas trees, stars, squares) and heat to serve or even saute’ and serve with some tomato sauce, eggplant or sausage ragu…

Basic Polenta
Serves 6-8.

4 cups simmering liquid (I used 2 cups chicken broth, 2 cups cream; feel free to adjust ratios)
1 cup corn meal/polenta
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2-4 T butter
KS&CP

Simmer stock and cream. Vigorously whisk in corn meal. Lower heat and stir regularly for 10-15 minutes until corn meal softens (taste it!). You may need to stir in extra stock to achieve your soft-or-firm consistency (I use a wooden spoon). Off heat and stir in butter and Parmesan, adjust seasoning with kosher salt & coarse pepper (white pepper won’t make black specks). Serve immediately… or plunk into a tray to firm up for shapes the next day (same goes for leftovers).