A PUDDLE OF POLENTA.

Who said polenta was just for winter? I call BS. Polenta brings sunshine and corn to warm weather days as well. And you can MAKE IT AHEAD OF TIME. We love that.

Could it be that we’ve got polenta all wrong? That it isn’t just a brilliantly satisfying winter dish, but could be our best friend all summer long as well?

Yes and yes. The trick is to lighten it into sunny, golden pools of corniness.

To do this, I use instant polenta, which isn’t (instant). Because it is ground more finely, it takes 5 minutes to cook, as opposed to 30 minutes for the real thing. I also lighten it by making it with water. Yes, water. And I lighten it by serving it as puddles, not lakes. And never mountains.

WATER, MILK OR STOCK?

I used to make polenta with a 60/40 mix of water and milk, which made it thick and creamy. Then I tried swapping the water for chicken or vegetable stock, but found it muscled in on the flavour of whatever I was serving with it.

So now I’ve just gone back to using mostly water, finishing with milk at the end for a touch of creaminess, and a final flourish of butter and cheese for richness.

The best ratio I’ve found is 1 cup polenta to 4 cups of liquid for a firm set, and to 5 cups of liquid for a soft, oozy set, which is more fun. You get all the same feels as mashed potato, but there’s that corny vibe going on as well.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

It’s still polenta, so it practically yells at you to serve it with a rich beefy ragu, or mushroom stew with gorgonzola, or indeed, just gorgonzola.

But because this is lighter, you can also think about serving it with seafood, fish, or a little ragout of spring vegetables. Or an insalata caprese. Buttery asparagus and parmigiano, mmm. A snag or two straight off the barbie, with smoky grilled peppers.

AH, BUT I PROMISED YOU A PUDDLE.

Here it is.  A round pool of polenta that once poured onto your plate, sets like the sun in the sky. Not heavy, but light. Not solid, but lightly mooshy inside.

POLENTA PUDDLES

Makes 4 to 6, depending on size.

• 1 cup instant polenta (170 g)

• 4 cups water ( 1 litre)

• half cup to 1 cup milk (125ml to 250ml)

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1 tbsp butter

• 2 tbsp grated parmesan

1. Bring the water to the boil and slowly shower in the polenta, whisking.

2. Turn the heat to low, and swap to a wooden spoon.

3. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often (beware of volcanic plops).

4. When the grains have dissolved and no longer feel gritty, add the milk, stirring.

5. Beat in the sea salt, butter and parmesan.

6. Pour onto warm plates to form puddles (don’t dilly-dally or it will set in the pan).

7. Serve with whatever you like, eg the meatballs shown here.

   GENIUS DO-AHEAD TIP: Pour the polenta into puddles on a baking tray lined with a sheet of baking paper and leave to cool. When ready to serve, reheat at 180C for 15 minutes or just fry in a dry non-stick pan until hot. Freeze left-overs for next time.

Yes, it takes a few goes to get a nice puddle shape.

AND THE MEATBALLS, YOU ASK?

My recipe for meatballs in red wine sauce here. Or here’s Terry to take you through how he made the meatballs you see here:

“I took 3 big fat kurobuta pork sausages, skinned them and pinched the meat into a bowl, while I soaked 2 slices sourdough bread in milk. Then I squeezed out the milk, and added the chopped-up bread to the meat with a lot of grated nutmeg, lemon zest, grated parmesan, dried oregano, salt and pepper, and a little of the milk from soaking the bread.

Then I added a beaten egg, suddenly realised it was too much, swore, took out half of it (this was not easy), then mulched everything together in my hands so that it was all evenly distributed and neighbourly.

Then I rounded the meat into meatballs in my hands, fried them off in three batches in a little olive oil, added them to the tomato sugo and simmered gently for 10 minutes. (The tomato sugo was just Mutti baby roma tomatoes, tomato passata, tomato paste, 3 anchovies, shredded basil, ladleful of chicken stock and a slug of olive oil, simmered for 15 minutes).”

Thanks for reading! And special thanks to Tezza for the meatballs.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s about time, folks.