In Charles’ words:
Yummy polenta, delicious every time.
The mild, slightly sweet, earthy corn flavor of polenta is as comforting as a bowl filled with old-world porridge as creamy, comforting as a delicious pudding. When firm, polenta can be toasted or broiled, served as a memorable base for braised meats or roasted veggies or with delicious cheese, herbs, and savory sauces.
A welcomed, simple, and hearty treat, the various ways of preparing it are numerable and fun to prepare, and a great relief from the usual rice, pasta or potatoes.
Deliziosa! Mangier, mangier!
Charles
From our Nancy:
This month’s recipes include –
POLENTA CON FORMAGGIO FUSO E FUNGHI E PASTA PRIMANEVE
With the Cortina Olympics not far behind us, I find myself tucked away in a small ski town in the Swiss Alps, close to the Italian border. Snow has been falling steadily for the past three days, and the quiet, wintry landscape has stirred memories of long ski holidays in Cortina d’Ampezzo—and, just as vividly, of its distinctive Dolomiti cuisine.
Here in Switzerland, I have certainly enjoyed my share of rösti, fondue, and raclette. Yet none of the local restaurants have offered the comforting mountain dishes I remember so well from Cortina—especially the rustic polenta enriched with melted cheese and topped with mushrooms, a staple found in nearly every alpine rifugio.
Even more memorable is Pasta Primaneve, a specialty of the Croda Café in the center of town. It is a dish I returned to again and again—and one I have since recreated many times at home, though never quite capturing the magic of eating it after a long day of skiing in Cortina.
Pasta Primaneve brings together the best ingredients of the region: speck, a delicately smoked and cured alpine ham; Treviso radicchio, with its pleasantly bitter edge; earthy alpine walnuts; and ricotta affumicata, a fresh ricotta gently smoked over beechwood embers. These are combined with onion, parsley, and a splash of crisp northern Italian white wine to create something both rustic and refined.
Out of curiosity, I recently looked up the menu at the Croda Café and was delighted to see that, even after thirty years, little has changed. Pasta Primaneve is still there—just as it should be.
Two of the ingredients in this dish may be unfamiliar to many. Speck, a traditional cured meat from South Tyrol, is like prosciutto in that it is made from pork leg, but it is lightly smoked and cured with salt, juniper, pepper, and herbs. While it resembles prosciutto in appearance and texture, speck has a more aromatic, gently spiced flavor and can be served raw or cooked. It is especially delicious with bread and cheese.
Ricotta affumicata, by contrast, is a smoked version of fresh ricotta commonly found in northern Italy, particularly in alpine regions. Unlike the soft, creamy ricotta more widely known, it is firm, slightly pungent, and easily grated or shaved into thin slices.
If possible, seek out both ingredients, as they define the dish. If they are not available, a good pancetta or prosciutto, along with Pecorino Romano or smoked mozzarella, makes a reasonable substitute.
POLENTA CON FORMAGGIO FUSO E FUNGHI
(Polenta with Melted Cheese and Mushrooms)
-from any mountain rifugio in the Alps (cozy, rustic guesthouses)
MUSHROOMS
- 16 oz Bella mushrooms (or mushroom mix of your choice)
- 8 cloves finely chopped garlic
- 1 cup chopped parsley leaves
- 1 ½ TBS good quality butter
- 2 TBS Torre di Gamberaia Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 – 1 tsp. Ils de Re Salt
Warm the olive oil and butter in a large saute pan. Add the garlic and sauté until soft. Add mushrooms and salt, turn the heat up high and stir a few times. Lower the heat to medium high and cover the pan, allowing the mushrooms to sweat their liquid, and until they are soft. Remove the cover and allow the liquid to evaporate, and cook the mushrooms until they are just beginning to become slightly crispy. Add the chopped parsley
Turn off the heat and prepare the polenta.
For INSTANT POLENTA
- 1-1/4 cup Instant Polenta
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup roughly grated fontina cheese (or melting cheese of your choice)
- 2 TBS good quality butter
- Boil the water. Add the polenta and stir. Lower the heat and cook gently for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the butter, olive oil
and cheese and cook gently for 1 minutes until butter and cheese have melted.
For LONG-COOKING TRADITIONAL POLENTA:
- 1-1/4 cup polenta
- 750 ml water
- 1 cup roughly grated fontina cheese (or melting cheese of your choice)
- 2 TBS good quality butter
Boil the water. Add the polenta and stir. Lower heat and cook polenta slowly for 40 to 60 minutes, stirring continuously. When cooked, add the butter, olive oil and cheese and cook gently for 1 minute until butter and cheese have melted.
SERVE:
Put polenta in to warmed individual serving bowls or ramekins and top with warm mushroom mixture. Alternatively, top with more grated melting cheese and broil in oven until cheese is melted.
Serve immediately with good crusty bread and a green salad.
PASTA PRIMANEVE
from the Croda Café Cortina
- 2 TBS Torre di Gamberaia Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 TBS Ils de Re Salt
- 1 large head radicchio (long Treviso type is best)
- 8 slices of speck, herbed Alpine bacon
- Ricotta Affumicata (smoked ricotta cheese) 1 cup plus ¼ cup for garnish
- 1 medium size onion, red or yellow
- ½ cup dry white wine
- Chopped walnuts for garnish
- 1 lb. spaghetti
Slice the radicchio in half then cut each half into thin strips. Cut the speck into thin strips or cubes. Chop the onion.
In a large stock pot set the water to boil for the pasta.
In a large sauté pan add the olive oil and sauté the speck until crispy. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the radicchio to the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes on medium high heat.
Turn the heat up high and add the white wine to the radicchio mixture and allow to evaporate for 1-2 minutes then turn the heat off.
Add a couple of tablespoons of warm pasta water to the 1 cup of ricotta in a bowl, mix it well and add the mixture to the radicchio mixture in the pan. Keep warm.
Add the salt to the boiling pasta water, then add the pasta and cook until it is barely al dente; in fact, a little undercooked is best. It is important to not overcook the pasta as it will be added to the pan with the warm sauce and therefore will continue to cook. Reserve about ½ cup of the pasta water before draining the pasta.
Add the hot al dente pasta to the pan with the radicchio mixture, turn the heat to medium high for just a minute or two to warm the pasta and sauce sufficiently, and add the warm pasta water by tablespoons until you have a nice creamy consistency.
Serve in individual plates, topping each with some additional cheese and the walnuts.
NOTE: If you cannot find smoked ricotta, a good pecorino romano will make a fairly good substitute, or you can combine pecorino romano with scamorza (smoked mozzarella).
Fabulous Rivesaline French salts from the Ile De Re coast.
Don’t forget to check out Nancy’s delicious extra virgin olive oil at: torredigamberaia.com
