Polenta has been for centuries the staple food in the daily diet of ordinary people in northern and central Italy. Polenta still plays an important role in the winter diet of these regions. There are several types of polenta. It can be made with corn, buckwheat, potatoes, chestnut flour, barley, white corn, or prepared with a mixture of several types of flour.

Once polenta used to be cooked in a copper pot that was suspended by a chain over the fireplace. Nowadays there are electric copper pots, but a good stainless steel pan will do. The recipe that I recommend you to try is easy to make and very tasty. It goes well with a typical Alto Adige cheese, formaggio di montagna di Sesto, but you can use any other type of tasty cheese of your choice.

Ingredients for 4-6 people
500 g (17.6 oz) of cornmeal
1.75 l ( 7.39 oz) of water
150 g (5.2 oz) of grated Parmesan cheese
200 ml (6.7 oz) of milk
150 g (5.2 oz) of formaggio di montagna di Sesto
600 g (21.1 oz) of fresh boletus mushrooms
extra-virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
2 cloves of garlic
chopped parsley

Bring water to a boil and add salt. Set aside a pan full of boiling hot salted water, in case your polenta gets too hard. Pour the cornmeal into the water, little by little, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, or with a whisk, so that it does not clot. Lower the flame and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring continuously and just adding hot water, if necessary. Meanwhile, warm up the milk in a double boiler, then add the grated Parmesan cheese and the diced formaggio di montagna di Sesto. Melt the cheese completely. Clean the mushrooms, slice and sauté them in a pan with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, then sprinkle them with chopped up parsley. Dish your polenta out into the plates, add the fondue and the mushrooms. The only thing you have to do now is to enjoy this delicious dish!