Easy Oven Baked Creamy Polenta

Easy Oven Baked Creamy Polenta

Have Easy Oven Baked Creamy Polenta ready to enjoy in an hour and never stir hot boiling polenta on the stovetop again!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword oven baked polenta, creamy polenta

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 184kcal

Author Nadia Fazio

Ingredients

1 cup cornmeal medium grind
5 cups cold water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F. In a casserole dish, combine cornmeal, water, salt and olive oil. Stir with a whisk. The cornmeal will sink to the bottom of the dish, this is normal.
Place in the oven, uncovered, for 1 hour. No stirring is required.
Remove from the oven and give it a stir. Serve hot.

Notes

Tips and suggestions:

Polenta is traditionally made with water, however part of the water may be replaced by milk or chicken broth or a combination of both.
It is not necessary to stir the polenta while baking.
When the polenta is ready, it will be more firm and dry around the edges and softer in the middle. Simply stir it when you take it out of the oven.
This recipe will yield approximately 4 cups of polenta.
You can easily double this recipe and bake it in a larger casserole dish.

How to Serve Easy Oven Baked Creamy Polenta

While I must admit, I enjoy my polenta as is, right out of the oven, there are definitely lots of ways to add flavor to your polenta as well as serve it. Here are a few suggestions:

Omit the olive oil in the first step of the recipe and stir in a spoonful of butter as well as grated Parmigiano and/or Pecorino cheese (or cheese of your choice) at the end of cooking.
Add freshly chopped herbs such as parsley, chives or thyme.
Top with garlicky sautéed greens such as rapini.
Serve with a meat sauce or tomato sauce with sausage added to it.
In Northern Italy, I enjoyed polenta topped with grated Fontina cheese and gratinéed. Incredibly decadent and delicious!
Serve as a bed for veal osso buco, chicken cacciatore or my mom's famous meatballs with tomato sauce.

How long does polenta keep for?

Leftover polenta keeps well refrigerated for up to 5 days.

How to reheat polenta:

For creamy polenta: Place the polenta in a pan on the stove top, stir in some water, milk or chicken broth, cover and cook until heated through.

For firm polenta: You'll notice that your leftover polenta will become firm once refrigerated. It can be sliced and pan fried until crisp or grilled. Pat dry the polenta with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture to prevent it from splattering during frying.

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