We're drawing our unofficial Polenta Day to a close with a look at our new favorite menu for a delicious and easy dinner party: a polenta bar!
We already shared our favorite no-stir polenta (courtesy of Marcella Hazan) and a chunkier version of polenta too, with creamed corn included.
Using one of those polentas as a base, work up a few toppings. The last polenta bar we served had meatballs in tomato sauce, smoky collard greens, and creamy butternut squash. Let your guests serve themselves and pile on those toppings in any order they like.
If you want to get extra fancy you could offer an assortment of cheeses: mascarpone, Parmesan, Gruyere — and maybe even some nuts on the side.
It's an easy, delicious way to serve a lot of people at a dinner party, and it's also a wonderful way to serve vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike. Just provide a range of toppings.
Also, many of these topping recipes can be made ahead — heck, they're even better made a day ahead. So for a dinner party all you'd have to worry about is prepping polenta.
(One note: the polenta in these photos looks a little chunky because this was photographed on its second day out of the pot! It was very creamy and smooth, but after a night in the fridge it will be a little chunky. You can blend it up with milk or cream but the texture will be slightly different than when it is freshly made.)
Recipes for a Polenta Bar
Polenta
• Marcella Hazan's No-Stir Polenta
• Creamed Corn Polenta
Toppings
• Totally Tender Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
• Easy Braised Collard Greens with Bacon
• Mélange of Squash Braised in Cream
Cap it off with chewy chocolate cookies for dessert, or brown butter ice cream with roasted fruit. Or maybe sticky toffee cakelets or — if you're not tired of cornmeal by now! — peach and cornmeal upside down cake or lavender polenta coffee cake.
We were inspired in all of this by Jamie Oliver's , which he tops with roasted game birds, cut up into pieces. Yum!
Have you ever done a polenta bar? Any favorite toppings for hot, creamy, luscious polenta?
(Images: Faith Durand)
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my italian aunt does this. you dump the polenta in the middle of the table on a wooden cutting board, cut up pieces with non-minty dental floss and then serve up hearty sauces and sausages etc to go with. pass the cheese and the grater and you're good to go!
Thanks for the idea. I, on the other hand, have been into polenta stir-ins lately:
http://onepot.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/polenta-interpretations-pesto-chevre/
love the idea of a polenta party... with toppings! when i've made extra polenta, i flatten it into a pan and, the following day, cut it into shapes to fry or bake.
Yum. I like to eat polenta with carmelized onions which could be another "fixin'" for a polenta bar.
I'm also imagining a breakfast polenta bar - fresh and dried fruit, honey, maple syrup, toasted nuts, Greek yogurt, ricotta...
Oooo. I like this idea! Down South I've seen quite a few caterers do grits bars, which kind of builds on the same idea. Start with garlic cheese grits in a pretty copper pot, add martini glasses, bits of country ham, caramelized onions, fresh chives or green onions, diced tomato, collard greens, etc. Voila!
What a great idea! Almost like top your own pizza party.
Don't forget that mushrooms and bacon<a/> also go great with polenta!
Great idea, I've seen this "dish deconstruction" done with fall orzo salad as well. Delish!
This is such an amazing idea! I am vegan so I pose a bit of a problem at family functions but this would make things a lot easier (and delicious)
I did this last night for my book group - thanks for the inspiration! Recipe here for polenta in a crockpot - with topping ideas, too - by Michelle Anna Jordan.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081210/LIFESTYLE/812100304?p=all&tc=pgall&tc=ar