You can’t get anymore traditional than this when it comes to Romanian cuisine. I learned to make this from my mother who learned from my grandma and so on. Now I used bacon and some smoked sausage in this polenta, but you can keep it meatless and you’ve got yourself a vegetarian meal. In Romania this dish is sometimes known as peasant food and the polenta is often cooked in large copper pots or iron skillets.
What is Polenta?
Polenta is a traditional European dish, used for its versatility to combine various ingredients as a side dish or even a full on meal. Polenta is usually made with water and cornmeal. It’s very simple to make a basic Polenta. In Romanian cuisine, “mamaliga” is enjoyed as a bread substitute most of the time, but as I mentioned above there are many ways in which it can be eaten. Italians on the other hand make it a bit differently, instead of water they cook it with milk or cream and they add Parmesan to it. I’m using in this recipe a basic Polenta to have a nice, easy to make base for this traditional Romanian dish.
Cornmeal: I like to use the extra fine cornmeal to get a smooth texture in the polenta. Meat: I use here a mix of bacon strips and smoked sausage to get that added rustic flavor to the whole dish. Cheese: Feta cheese is definitely my favorite to use for both it’s consistency and the salty flavor it offers to the whole polenta dish.
Storage
Store leftover polenta in an airtight container or wrapped in aluminum foil or plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 5 days.
More Delicious Recipes To Try
Creamy Polenta with Grilled Steak and Roasted TomatoesSaucy Chicken and Sausage over Creamy Parmesan PolentaCreamy PolentaBraised Beef Short RibsWalnut Roll (Cozonac cu Nuca)
