Varesina-style polenta

Lombard cuisine offers many recipes with cornmeal. Varesina-style polenta is one of them. It is a very hearty one-dish meal, ideal for the winter season, featuring a variety of ingredients including legumes, vegetables, and pork rind. Alternatively, if you want a simpler dish, you can opt for Ciociara polenta.

Polenta alla varesina

Polenta alla varesina is a very hearty one-dish meal, ideal for the winter season, featuring a variety of ingredients including legumes, vegetables, and pork rind.

voti: 4.80 (5)

Print Recipe Vota la ricetta

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours

Course: Single dish

Cuisine: Lombard cuisine

Servings: 4 persone

Attrezzature

• Large deep pot
• Ladle
• Wooden spoon
• Serving bowl
• Wooden cutting board (optional)
• Grater

Ingredients

• 500 gr Cornmeal
• 200 gr Pork cracklings fresh
• 100 gr Pancetta sliced
• 1 stalk Celery
• 2 pcs Carrots
• 1 pcs Onion
• 600 gr Savoy cabbage
• 300 gr Beans cooked borlotti
• qb Salt

Instructions

• Scrape the cracklings, burn the hairs on the flame of the stove, and cut them into pieces.
• Peel the onion, scrape the carrots and celery, wash them, and cut into pieces.
• Put the pancetta in a saucepan or large pot and brown it. Add the chopped vegetables and after a few minutes, also add the cracklings. Stir.
• After a couple of minutes, add about 2.5 liters of boiling water and cook for about 30 minutes.
• Clean the cabbage, choosing the tenderest part. Wash it and then pour it into the pot with the cooked beans.
• After about 15 minutes, add the salt and sprinkle the flour, making sure to stir with a wooden spoon.
• Cook the polenta for about 45 minutes, stirring frequently.
• When the polenta is cooked, turn it out onto a wooden board. Cover with a cloth for a few minutes before serving.
  

Notes

You can also cook the cabbage in a stew with the cracklings in a separate saucepan and join them to the polenta just when it is cooked.