Enhance your main entree by serving this tasty and easy to make Creamy Polenta Recipe with Parmesan Cheese as a side dish for your next meal.
Servings: 8
Prep Time: 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 30 minutesminutes
Total Time: 35 minutesminutes
Ingredients
1 1/2tablespoonof olive oil
1/2small diced small yellow onion
2finely minced cloves of garlic
6cupsof chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
2cupsof medium ground cornmeal
2ouncesof unsalted butter
2/3cupof shredded parmesan cheese
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
In a medium-size pot on medium-high heat add in the olive oil and cook the onions and garlic until they are browned about 3 to 7 minutes.
Pour in the liquid and bring to a boil.
Once boiling pour in the cornmeal while continuing to vigorously stir with a whisk to ensure no clumps are formed, about 15 to 20 minutes. When the cornmeal is poured in, turn the heat down to medium-low.
Finish off the polenta by stirring in butter, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper until completely combined. Cook for a further 5 minutes over low heat. Garnish with parmesan and parsley.
Serve hot, enjoy!
Notes
CHEF NOTES:
How To Reheat: simply add the desired amount of polenta back into a medium-size pot over low heat and add in about a 1/2 cup of warm chicken stock to reconstitute it and loosen it up. You may need more chicken stock.
Make-Ahead: You can make this recipe up to 1 day ahead of time.
How To Store: Store it covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
I prefer to use medium ground cornmeal to make the creamy polenta with because I like it to be a bit more grainy, but that's just me, so feel free to use a finer ground.
In my personal opinion, I think onions, butter, and cheese is the perfect addition to a basic recipe.
It is absolutely ok to sub unsalted butter for olive oil when cooking the onions.
You can substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock or even just water when cooking the polenta.
If you wanted to kick it up, even more, you could caramelize up some mushrooms or root vegetables during this cooking stage as well. The point I'm trying to get at is that this creamy polenta recipe is malleable, customize is it to your tastebuds!