ItalianPolenta di patate
Potato and buckwheat polenta
Smacafam / polenta di patate: Trentino's potato and buckwheat polenta with melting cheese
Up in the valleys of Trentino, where maize was scarce and potatoes grew well, cooks stretched their buckwheat by cooking it with mashed potato into a soft, grey-gold polenta. It is a cold-weather dish of the Val di Non and Val di Sole, stirred in a heavy pot and finished with buttery onions and cubes of local cheese that melt into pockets. Earthy from the buckwheat and smooth from the potato, it is often served alongside mushrooms or a salad of bitter leaves. Chef's tip: use floury potatoes and mash them right in the pot, in their cooking water, to keep the polenta light.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Serves
- 4
- Per serving
- 430 kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ lb potatoesa floury variety, peeled, in 3 cm chunks
- 4 ¼ cups water
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 3 ½ oz buckwheat flour
- 1 onionthinly sliced
- 1 ⅜ oz butter
- 5 ½ oz Asiago or a mountain cheesein 1 cm cubes; usually made with animal rennet, or a vegetarian semi-hard cheese
- ¼ tsp black pepper
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Method
0/7 doneStep 2: Mash the potatoes roughly in their water with a potato masher, leaving the pan over a low heat.
Step 3: Sift in 3 ½ oz buckwheat flour a spoonful at a time, whisking constantly. Common mistake: adding the flour in one go; the buckwheat forms grey lumps that won't smooth out.
Step 4: Cook over a low heat for 15–20 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until thick, smooth and coming away from the sides of the pan.
20 minStep 6: Stir the onions and their butter into the polenta, then fold in 5 ½ oz Asiago or a mountain cheese and ¼ tsp black pepper and take the pan off the heat.
Step 7: Spoon onto warm plates while the cheese is still in soft, melting pockets.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 50 g
- Fat
- 19 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does polenta di patate take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of potatoes?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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