Our Italian polenta recipe has two steps – sautéing the mushrooms and cooking the polenta. However its ingredients are simple to assemble:
Ingredient quantities are detailed in the printable recipe card below.
Cornmeal
You’ll want to use coarse ground yellow cornmeal for this Italian polenta recipe.
Merchants have marketed expensive polenta products, typically from Italy, aimed at consumers that want the ‘best of everything’ when they cook at home. Don’t fall into their trap!
We’ve found that locally-made coarse ground yellow cornmeal makes polenta at the same level of quality as Italian cornmeal which can cost up to four times more money. If you can find coarse ground white cornmeal, go for it. That style of polenta is popular in Venice.
Pro Tip
Be careful not to use fine cornmeal. The result will be a clumpy polenta mess instead of a creamy polenta dream.
Water
Our recipe calls for a four-to- one ratio of water to cornmeal. We use tap water when we make this recipe at home.
Pro Tip
It’s important to bring the water to a boil and then create a whirlpool as you slowly sprinkle in the polenta. If your water begins to boil too hard, turn down the heat on the stove.
Mushrooms
We recommend using the best mushrooms you can find.
In an ideal world, you would use fresh wild mushrooms like porcinis, chanterelles or morels in this recipe. However, we get that cultivated varieties like white trumpet and oyster mushrooms are easier to source. The good news is that simpler mushrooms won’t severely impact the flavor of the dish.
The recipe will still taste great if you decide to use more common mushroom varieties like white button or cremini. You’ll want to stay away from fresh shiitakes unless you love a super chewy mushroom texture.
Pro Tip
Cut the mushrooms a little thick – between a half and quarter inch. You’ll begin with what seems like a lot of mushrooms but the tasty fungus will cook down and reduce drastically in size regardless of the variety you end up using.
Taleggio Cheese
Taleggio cheese is a special washed rind product from Val Taleggio in Italy’s Lombardi region just north of Bergamo. Even though the cheese carries a decent fragrance (some would say odor), its flavors are relatively mild. However, this cheese carries just enough distinct flavor and stretchiness to make a luxurious impact on your polenta.
Taleggio is made from pasteurized and raw milk (depending on the producer and country of sale). Due to the cheese’s mild flavor, the type of milk should not matter. In other words, a pasteurized version of Taleggio cheese will work just fine in this recipe.
Pro Tip
It’s important to add the Taleggio cheese after you’ve taken the polenta off the heat or the cheese will congeal. Also, make sure you cut the sandy rind off the Taleggio before dicing the cheese.
Butter
A tablespoon of better adds extra richness and flavor. The key is to add the butter off the heat.
Parmigiano
You can use either Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano in this recipe. That being said, you can use alternatively use ungrated American-made parmesan in a pinch.
These cheeses don’t just provide additional creaminess. They also provide a subtle undertone of flavor.
Pro Tip
You can use pre grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana-Padano but stay away from any pre-grated American versions of these cheeses.
Onions
You could hypothetically sauté the mushrooms alone, but we like to add half of a chopped medium onion to the sauté to round out the overall flavor.
White Wine
Nothing punches up the flavor of sautéed mushrooms better than white wine. Wine also deglazes the bottom of the pan, essentially removing all the caramelized onion goodness that happens during a high heat sauté.
Salt
We add salt to both the mushroom sauté and the polenta for flavor.
If you don’t add salt to the polenta, your cooked cornmeal will taste flat.
