Polenta rounds

These polenta rounds were created to go with ratatouille one lunchtime. The kids like eating them just as they are, no accompaniments.

Polenta rounds, ready for eating as is, or top with ratatouille for something more substantial.

• Servings: 4-6
• Time: 30 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of polenta
• just over a cup of water (about 300 ml)
• salt
• 1/2 ounce of butter (about a tablespoon)

Directions

1. 

   Using an egg ring to shape the polenta rounds

   Boil the water in a small saucepan and add the salt.

2. Get a wooden spoon and start stirring while you slowly add the polenta.
3. Don’t stop stirring. Don’t walk away. This stuff cooks really quickly.
4. Once the mix just starts to come away from the sides of the saucepan, add the butter and stir that in. Keep stirring until you have worked the butter in.
5. Pour this into a flat-bottomed dish you have rinsed the water. The  water stops the mixture sticking to the dish. We use egg rings to create the rounds, but you could also cut the set polenta into any shape after it has set.
6. Let it set. It takes about half an hour.
7. Heat some olive oil in a heavy frypan and lightly fry the rounds until they are a nice golden colour. You can use a normal egg flip to turn them over.

Notes

These are really yummy served with ratatouille. There’s no cheese in here, and very little salt, so you need something flavoursome to go with them.

Source: From  An invitation to Italian cooking (1986), by Antonio Carluccio. Nelson Publishers: Australia.