Rachael of pizzarossa was our August 2012 Daring Cook hostess and she challenged us to broaden our knowledge of cornmeal! Rachael provided us with some amazing recipes and encouraged us to hunt down other cornmeal recipes that we’d never tried before – opening our eyes to literally 100s of cuisines and 1000s of new-to-us recipes!
Hm, cornmeal. Interesting, I have never ever used cornmeal in my life before. So, making something I never made with cornmeal is not a problem. Only, what? I quickly decided on polenta, since that’s been on my list of to-be-made recipes for a long time. Only, I could not decide what to make it with, i mean, just polenta does not really consist of a meal right? Last week when I scrolled through the Daring cooks forum, Manu‘s pictures gave me the right idea: polenta concia. I had never heard of this, but when I read aloud the list of ingredients to my girlfriend, she said: recipes with butter and cheese cannot be wrong, right? I agreed, and looked around in the internet to find more exact recipes. These do not seem to be available, hence I combined a few, and tried to make my recipe look like Manu’s pictures.
Here is what you need (for two persons, well three maybe):
- 150 gr. corn flour
- 600ml water
- 100gr fontina in small cubes (or gruyere, or something alike. I did not find fontina and got a good substitute from my cheese man, unfortunately I forgot the name EDIT: it’s called abondance!)
- 50gr gorgonzola
- 50gr butter
Cook the corn flour in salted water. Stir well. When cooked, mix in the butter. Mix in the fontina and put everthing in an oven pan. Put gorgonzola on top. I put aluminium foil on top, but I guess you can leave it uncovered. Put in oven (180 degrees) for about 15-20 minutes. I served this with a simply green salad. Nice! It’s more like a winter or autumn dish though, but nevertheless: good recipe. I’ll make it again, and I will sure make polenta again, very easy, very quick. 
hmmm. nice.
esthercooks 
Well done, Esther! I’ve cooked with cornmeal in a few other things before (english muffins, anadama bread), and for a batter for fish in this challenge, but never though of cooking it with cheese. And the timing is fine with me – we’re in winter here in Australia, so a nice warm dish sounds great!
Cheers!
Aaron
I was unable to reply to your blog Aaron, so I do it like this: yours look delicious too. And very child friendly indeed!
MMMM that looks so yummy. I personally think after my attempt with polenta I could sit right down and eat an entire meal of it with some fresh vegies for a summer dinner, much like your dish with the salad! Great job! I would love to know the suggested alternate cheese if you can remember!
Dear Kim, yes, I’ll ask my cheeseman at the market tomorrow…i need to know as well of course, in case I make this again.
dear Kim, not sure if you’ll still read this, but I now know the cheese: abondance!
good luck finding it, it’s nice!
I love cheesy polenta. Your’s looks wonderful.
Yum – what a great first cornmeal dish! Great job turning polenta into a delicious and filling meal!
So gooey and cheesy! I love this polenta!
Ohhhh Esther! Your polenta concia looks sooo good! 🙂
There is no recipe… I know… it is one of those dishes that is different in every house! hehehehe The cheeses are different and also the methods… some people don’t even bake it, they simply mix the cheese in when the polenta is cooked! 😉 I love it in all variations… I agree 100%… a recipe with cheese and butter can’t be wrong!
Thank you so much for the mention!
PS: I don’t always find Italian fontina, but I find that Danish fontal is always available in Sydney and it is quite similar to fontina (only a bit milder).
thanks Manu, I’ll see if I can get fontal. Although, the cheese I used (still don’t recall the name) was quite good actually, and it was rather spicey, which I liked. Happy to hear from a real Italian that you think it’s good! I am sure this will turn out one of our new favourite comfort foods.