Oven-Baked Polenta with Cheese

The latest Cooking Club magazine has a roast beef recipe I want to try. Lo and behold, the magazine also contained a recipe for the "perfect accompaniment" for the beef. Determining suitable sides is a difficult task for me, so I snagged this opportunity to prepare a meal with predetermined perfection.

Fontina cheese was not to be had at the grocery store, so I rolled with mozzarella. As the recipe didn't specify cornmeal for polenta, I used Albers cornmeal.

Oven-Baked Polenta with Fontina Cheese
from Cooking Club of America

1 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 c finely chopped onion
5 c lower-sodium chicken broth, divided
2 c yellow cornmeal
1 c half-and-half, divided
1/4 c grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 tsp coarse salt
2 c shredded fontina or mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 11x7-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Cook onion 3 to 4 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally.

Add 2 1/2 cups of the broth; bring to a gentle boil.

Place cornmeal in large bowl with spout. Slowly stir in remaining 2 1/2 cups broth until smooth.

Gradually stir cornmeal mixture into onion mixture until smooth.

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; cook 15 minutes or until very thick, stirring occasionally.

Stir in 1/2 cup of the half-and-half, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and salt until blended.

Spread half of the cornmeal mixture in baking dish; sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese.  

Spread with remaining cornmeal mixture; top with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Pour remaining 1/2 cup half-and-half over top.

Polenta can be made to this point 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Add 10 minutes to baking time.

I covered and refrigerated my dish for 16 hours.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes (or 45-50 if refrigerated overnight) or until cheese is melted and bubbly and top is light brown.

This is what the cheesy polenta looked like after 16 hours of refrigeration and after baking 50 minutes.


Um, turns out I'm not too hot to trot for polenta. I've never had it before and it was a little confusing to my senses. The polenta at the edges of the baking dish was more firm than it was at the center. You can even see it in the first photo -- the interior looks creamy/runny while the edge part tried to stand at attention. Some of the polenta was grainy and other parts weren't. It was weird, like two polenta styles in one. It's not likely I'll make this again for the texture reasons but also because it made a 9x13" dish of this rich stuff! What was I thinking?

The polenta was pretty easy to put together. I wasn't sure how thick it was supposed to get in the Dutch oven and added a few minutes to the cooking/thickening time. Being able to assemble it one day and bake it the next was a nice idea, but I wonder if that contributed to the dual-textured results. If I were to do this again, I'd certainly bake it immediately after assembling just to confirm whether that was indeed the cause of the texture duality.

Cost:

• onion: $0.10
• broth: $0.66
• cornmeal: $1.00, SWAG
• half-and-half: $1.59
• Parmigiano cheese: $1.00, SWAG
• mozzarella: $1.49

Total: $5.84 or $0.73 for each of eight generous servings.

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