Grilled Polenta - From Scratch

Polenta is very easy to make and in this form makes a wonderful side to just about anything.  It also makes a wonderful component in salad!  My favorite thing to eat with polenta is a nice juicy piece of meat, the polenta soaks up the juices beautifully and tastes delicious.  This recipe makes 8 servings, if you don't need that many just put the un-grilled portions of polenta into a container to store in the fridge (or freezer) until you need it.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/4 tsp salt 
• freshly ground pepper
• olive oil for brushing

Measure the cornmeal into a deep saucepan.  Gradually mix in the water.  Once the water is mostly absorbed, whisk in the salt.  Place over medium heat and bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking often (almost constantly).  Reduce the heat to low and cover partially with the lid to the pan.  Cook at a very slow simmer, stirring often, until the polenta becomes very thick and pulls away from the sides of the pan.  This should take about 25 minutes.  Remove from the heat and season generously with pepper.

Lightly brush an 8-inch square baking pan with oil.  Spoon the hot polenta into the pan and smooth it evenly to the edges with the back of a spoon (to ease the spreading, dip the spoon in warm water).

 Let cool completely before covering and refrigerating for about 24 hours.

Invert the pan of polenta onto a cutting board, tapping the bottom of the pan to release the polenta.  Trim the edges even with a long knife - this will make it easier to achieve even portions for serving.

Cut the polenta into 4 squares, then cut each square in half on the diagonal, making 8 triangles.

Pat dry with paper towels, then it's ready to grill!  You can grill these on the grill or on a grill pan, which works just as well.  I happened to use a grill pan this time, but feel free to fire up the grill!  The grilling technique for this is the same whether you use charcoal, gas, or a grill pan.  Grill the polenta directly over the heat elements you are using (this should be the hottest part of the flames on a charcoal grill), carefully turning once with a large spatula, until crisp and dark grill marks are visible on both sides.  This should take about 5 minutes per side.