Polenta hits the mainstream

When I was a child, nobody I knew had ever heard of polenta. Nobody outside of my northern Italian family, anyway. Essentially, it's cornmeal mush served with some kind of meat with a sauce. Then the world seemed to discover northern Italian cuisine, and polenta was suddenly on the fanciest menus, commanding astronomical prices. For home cooks, the dish took on a "this is a really big deal" quality, as it was rumored that polenta took hours of stirring over a hot pot.

If you are not a polenta-maker, here's what you need to know: It is one of the easiest, least expensive and most potentially delicious dishes you can cook. I say "potentially delicious" because polenta is a culinary blank slate: It all depends on what you serve with it. In my mother's house, that often meant liver and onions, veal and peppers, rabbit stew or chicken fricassee. In my house, it's chicken cacciatore, roasted vegetables or braised veal shanks. At your house, it can be anything you like.

The polenta itself is versatile. You can serve it mushlike, hot from the pot, or you can pour it into a loaf pan, chill it, slice it and fry it. This last preparation is great for any meal, including breakfast. There is also, I admit, some good "instant polenta" out there -- Pastene, for example.

The recipe here for the polenta is my mom's. It is the simplest and easiest that I know, and it needs nothing more than a supermarket box of plain cornmeal, salt and water and little stirring.

Polenta

2 slightly heaping cups yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 quarts cold water

2 teaspoons salt

Put cornmeal, water and salt in a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, 5 to 10 minutes. Cover the pot, leaving a slight opening for steam to escape (my mother calls this "squeegy-ing the lid"), reduce heat to a simmer, and allow polenta to cook 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Ideally, the right consistency is reached when you can pour the polenta into a bowl, let it sit for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a platter without it losing its shape. At this point, traditionalists slice it with a string. But it doesn't really matter. It will still taste the same. Let it sit covered and off the heat for 10 minutes before serving. You can do the bowl thing, or just serve it from the pot. If you have leftovers, chill them overnight in a greased pan, slice into slabs, fry in oil and serve as a side dish at supper or as a breakfast dish with maple syrup.

Yield: 6 servings

Marialisa Calta is the author of "Barbarians at the Plate: Taming and Feeding the American Family" (Perigee, 2005). For more information, go to www.marialisacalta.com.

Luganega

4 thin slices (about 2 1/4 ounces) pancetta, chopped (see Cook's note)

3 thin slices (about 2 1/4 ounces) lardo di Colonnato, chopped (see Cook's note)

6 luganega sausages (see Cook's note)

1 small onion, peeled and sliced

1 cup white wine

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved, for serving

Cook's note: Pancetta, or "Italian bacon," is sold in many supermarkets. Substitute thick-cut bacon if you can't find it. Lardo di Colonnato is aged and seasoned Tuscan pork fat and is hard to come by. If you can't find it, just double the amount of pancetta. Luganega is a pork sausage usually made in one long coil, not separated into links. You can find it in specialty stores and some supermarkets, where it is often sold in links. You can substitute any fresh, mild Italian pork sausage.

Saute the pancetta and lardo di Colonnato in a dry skillet until some of the fat seeps out. Prick the sausages all over with the tines of a fork. Add to the skillet. Cook until they are lightly golden in places. Transfer the pancetta and lardo to a plate so they don't become too crisp. Add the onion to the sausages in the skillet. Cook until the onion is golden and soft. Return the pancetta and lardo di Colonnato to the skillet and fry for a few minutes, until everything is melded together nicely. Add the wine and simmer for 30 minutes, turning the sausages over until they are golden on the bottom, the wine has evaporated, and everything once again looks as if it is frying a little in the oil. Serve over the polenta and scatter with the cheese.

Yield: 6 servings

Recipe from "Venezia: Food & Dreams" by Tess Kiros (Andrews McMeel, 2009)

Caption: Polenta goes with everything, including this dish of pork sausage cooked with onions and wine. Photograph by Manos Chatzikonstantis for "Venezia: Food & Dreams" by Tessa Kiros (Andrews McMeel, 2009)