Soft Polenta

Microwave Polenta

This recipe is the closest thing I know to kitchen magic. Just dump a few ingredients in a soufflé dish and push the start button on your microwave, and in a few minutes you have something beautiful and nourishing. Just one thing: measure both the corn meal and the water with a dry measuring cup--using a liquid measure for the water results in a thin, soupy polenta.  Serves 8 as a side dish.

4 cups water
3/4 cup coarse ground cornmeal
2 tsp. kosher salt
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup softened Gorgonzola cheese or 1/4 cup additional butter

1. Combine water, cornmeal, and salt in 2-qt. soufflé dish. Cook, uncovered, at 100% for 6 minutes. Stir well, cover loosely with paper toweling, and cook for 6 minutes more.

2. Remove from oven. Uncover and stir in butter, pepper and cheese (or additional butter). Let stand for 3 minutes. Serve hot.

P.S. It is not necessary to add the huge amount of butter and cheese at the end that Kafka suggests. I just use a tiny fraction--maybe 2 tsp. of butter--and it's just fine. I never bother measuring how much Gorgonzola I use--depends on how calorie-conscious we're being and how much is available--but just a little of that is fine, too, as is crumbled chevre.

Microwave Gourmet, Barbara Kafka.