Polenta on the Table

There’s shock and laughter when you serve this directly on the table as they do all over Italy! Kids love it! It’s an ancient way of serving food. This rustic meal is specifically from Italy. We experienced this near a small village northwest of Milano near Lake Maggiore called Arcumeggia. It’s known as “the village of paintings.” We were taken there by our friends Marino and Giovanna Nebuloni and are forever grateful to them for sharing so much of their cuisine and culture with us over the years.

For the full effect, line your table with a plastic covering. Then top it with a heavy paper or a craft or butcher paper. Pour the polenta in the middle and using a large spoon give it a bowl like shape. Then fill the “polenta bowl” with the Italian sausage and tomato sauce. Add a final shredding of Parmesan, scatter fresh basil over it all and you’re ready to go. If you want more veggies, add a pile or bowl of roasted broccoli to the table.

This meal is a thick creamy polenta which can hold the meaty tomato sauce. A jar of tomato sauce is NOT a substitute!

You can use a large wood cutting board to serve this. There is even a special Italian board called a spianatora used for this. Plates are also optional.

Polenta refers to cornmeal today. But maize did not arrive in Italy until 1650. Before then polenta was made from barley, spelt, chickpea or walnut flour. The word polenta came from the Latin pulmentum. Polenta is also known as grits.

Serves 8

If you are only serving 4, make 1/2 the polenta recipe. It is not good when reheated. The leftover sauce can be frozen.

Ingredients

Sauce

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds Italian sausage meat, casings removed. We use HOT Italian sausage

2 large onions, chopped

2 large fennel bulbs, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup red wine

1-1 pound 15 oz can Italian plum tomatoes, San Marzano is best. Break tomatoes into smaller pieces with your hands into a bowl

1 teaspoon sugar

Large handful fresh basil, roughly torn, plus some for the table

Polenta

4 cups chicken stock

1 1/3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Polenta (medium grind cornmeal) or regular grits

5 tablespoons butter

1 cup grated Parmesan plus more served at the table

Directions

Sausage Tomato Sauce

1. In a wide heavy bottom sauce pan or casserole over medium high heat place 2 tablespoons olive oil.
2. Add the sausage and chop it with a large spoon or metal spatula into large chunks as you brown it. You want large size pieces about 1 inch or so in size.
3. When browned, remove meat from pan. Then add another 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan. Reduce heat to low and add the onion and fennel. Stir and sauté until tender.
4. Add the garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Increase heat to medium and add wine and let bubble for 1 minute.
5. Add tomatoes, sugar and cooked sausage meat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently 20 minutes.
6. Add the basil and reserve some for the table. Taste for seasoning. Voila!
7. This sauce can be made the day before. The polenta can not because it thickens up too much as it cools and becomes too solid.

Polenta

1. Immediately before you are ready to serve the Polenta on the Table, make the polenta. It thickens too much as it sits in the saucepan to be made ahead of time.
2. Bring stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Slowly add the polenta while whisking.
3. Reduce heat to a simmer. Whisk constantly while simmering 10 minutes or until thick, creamy and tender.
4. Add butter and Parmesan, whisking till blended in.
   • Another option for the polenta is in the same saucepan melt 2 tablespoons butter and sauté a chopped onion and then when translucent add 2 cloves minced garlic for 30 seconds. Then add the stock and proceed.
5. You are now ready to serve!
6. If you are serving 8, make 2 mounds of polenta at the table. If you are serving 4, then make 1 mound.
7. Use a large spoon to make a bowl shape in the polenta with sides high enough to hold the sauce.
8. Pour 1/2 the Sausage Tomato Sauce into each polenta bowl.
9. Sprinkle some Parmesan over the sauce and toss basil over it all.
10. Voila! Time to eat! Everyone helps themselves. I like to use a flat metal spatula for serving.