Valle d'Aosta Polenta Pasticciata

By John, 19 December, 2020
Region
Italy
Description

Valle d'Aosta Polenta PasticciataA pasticciata is a mess of something, and many recipes based on polenta are called Polenta Pasticciata con something or alla someplace. This one is in the style of Valle d'Aosta, way up in the far Northwest, up against the French Alps, so that means is uses the famous Fontina cheese, of which the best is the name-protected Fontina Valle d'Aosta.

The cheese is not stirred into the polenta when it cooks, but rather you take a stiff cooked polenta and layer it with cheese and butter and then melt it all together into a rich golden gooey mess - a pasticciata. This is a hearty cold-weather treat.

Yield
4 Servings
Preparation time
30 minutes
Ingredients
1 Polenta Chub (premade cooked polenta)
6 T Butter (cold, diced)
11 oz Fontina Cheese (thinly sliced)
1 c Parmesan Cheese (grated)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350.
  2. Butter an oven-safe serving dish big enough to hold the remaining ingredients.
  3. Slice the polenta and put a layer of slices to cover the bottom and sides of the dish.
  4. Add a layer of Fontina, some Parmesan, and some diced butter. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up, with a bit of Fontina saved for the top. You can add salt and pepper if you like.
  5. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes and serve very hot.
Notes
You can buy precooked polenta in 12-oz chubs in many supermarkets. This makes the work go a lot faster.
Source
Silver Spoon Cookbook