Baked Polenta

"What in the hell" you're asking, "is polenta"?

Or maybe you're not asking that.

For those of you that don't know already, polenta is corn grits. Not to be confused with hominy grits that some of us grew up on, but very similar in taste and appearance. Polenta is yellow, like corn, though.

You can buy polenta ready to eat in a tube, but I honestly don't know why the hell you'd bother. It's so damned easy to make fresh and you have a lot more say in how it comes out, plus it's a fraction of the cost. Here's a really simple way to make it and it comes out really good.

You will need;

One cup of corn grits (polenta)

One cup of grated mozzerella, provelone, or parmesian cheese, or any combination of those three.

A toe or two of garlic, finely minced or crushed

Some fresh or dried rosemary (fresh is better)

Three cups of water (or chicken stock)

Bring the three cups of salted water to a boil and then sprinkle in the grits. Do this carefully otherwise it may get lumpy. You wouldn't want that. Bring it back up to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. It needs to cook like that for 5 minutes with some occasional stirring. Italian women will tell you that you should stir it continuously, but they just say that to make you think they do more work in the kitchen than they really do. They're lying. You want it to thicken up quite a bit, but not too much. It shouldn't be soupy, and if it is, leave it on the heat for a few more minutes.

After 5 minutes take it off the heat, add the garlic, the rosemary, and the cheese. It wouldn't hurt to drop a pat of butter in there. Stir all that together and then get a baking dish that will hold it all and paint the inside with some olive oil. After the polenta has cooled a little, pour it into the greased baking dish. You might wish to lay a couple of thin slices of cheese on top of it. This gets baked until the cheese topping starts to bubble. Remove it from the oven and let it sit for an half hour or so to firm up.

You can serve it up in fat slices with tomato sauce and italian sausage. It's something nice in place of pasta, and it's cheap.

You don't have to use rosemary, you could use any herb or even a variety of them. Or none at all. Polenta is a blank canvas, and you are only limited by your imagination. Have fun with it.