Shortly before Thanksgiving, I helped out with a little dinner at the Vischer Ferry General Store. We made salad with orange-shallot vinaigrette, peasant bread, sherry vinegar chicken and polenta, which I had forgotten how much I love. We roasted the polenta in the oven using Paula Wolfert’s recipe, which I had heard about over the years, but, for whatever reason, namely Mark Bittman’s Polenta Without Fear, had never made. Friends, roasting polenta in the oven is a game changer — it frees up your cooktop and, more important, YOU. While the polenta bubbles away in the oven, you can sauté greens or poach eggs or steam broccoli or take a bath give the kids a bath, etc. No need to worry if the polenta is sticking to the pot, running out of liquid—in the oven it cooks slowly and evenly.
How to Make Oven-Roasted Polenta
This is how you make it: whisk together polenta, water, and milk with a pad of butter and a pinch of salt; throw the pot in the oven; remove it about an hour later. It’s the easiest thing in the world, and this time of year, I could eat it with everything: slow-cooker beans, braised short ribs, sherry chicken, roasted mushrooms, or as here with caramelized cabbage and a poached egg on top.
Oven-roasted polenta with slow cooker beans:
5 from 19 reviews Oven-baking polenta is game changing: just throw it in the oven, give it a stir 40 minutes later, bake it for 20 minutes more. For years, I’ve made Mark Bittman’s Polenta without Fear, which is also simple, but I prefer the hands-off nature of the oven-baked version. (See notes below the recipe for making Instant Pot polenta.) I love the combination of polenta with a poached egg and a drizzle of truffle oil. A side of sautéed greens makes the meal feel more complete. Here I’ve served the polenta with another Paula Wolfert/Fine Cooking recipe for caramelized cabbage, which takes longer than quickly sautéing greens, but which is a good one to know should you find yourself overloaded with cabbage, as I found myself a few weeks ago. Polenta is also delicious with this sherry vinegar chicken, braised short ribs, and most recently I spooned these slow-cooker beans over it, which was also delicious. Re water: If you use 5 cups of water, it will take longer for the polenta to thicken up, but in the end, it will be ultra creamy and delicious. Four cups still yields a creamy polenta, and it will allow the polenta to thicken more quickly. You can use all water if you don’t want to use any milk.
