Polenta Crostini

Polenta Crostini with Asparagus

Imagine the crispy, butteryness of old fashioned kettle popcorn. The polenta crostino, which was basically invented as a way to use gelatinized, day-old polenta, is one of my favorite Italian foods. Maybe I have a thing with leftovers. Day-old pasta, baked to a crunchy delicious or fried into a frittata... Instead of basic bread bruschetta, pan-fried or baked squares of polenta are a sinful cushion for toppings including everything from lardo di colonata to grilled asparagus.

I first tried them at a truck stop sort of restaurant just outside of Florence, Osteria dei Giusti. We happened upon the place starving on our way back to Rome after a long Chianti-soaked weekend. The hangover was starting to break, leaving a searing hunger in its wake. While we waited for bowls of steaming ribollita and homemade fettucine with cinghiale (wild boar) ragu’, we sampled a plate of house crostini, which consisted mostly of basic bruschetta with tomato and basil or mixed mushrooms. There were only three polenta crostini and I pretended not to notice the difference and ate two of them. Then I asked for more.

Last night it was cold and rainy. I had a bottle of Barbera d’Alba, 2006 and still a little punchy. It called for something rich to balance the acidity, and plain old mushy polenta wasn’t going to cut it. I prepared it as usual, with some fresh sage leaves and butter, and spread the whole thing in a baking pan in the freezer for about 25 minutes.
Most recipes call for day-old polenta, or at least two hours of chilling, this seemed to work just fine. It was about a centimeter thick all the way across.

Recipe:
Makes about 25 crostini

Ingredients

Polenta:
8 heaping tablespoons of polenta
½ liter of water
a pinch of salt
4 fresh sage leaves chopped
A tablespoon of butter
olive oil

Topping:
10 asparagus spears
salt
fresh ground pepper
olive oil


Procedure:
Bring water to boil and sprinkle in polenta and salt. Add sage and stir over a low flame until it bubbles and thickens—about five minutes. Stir in the butter. Remove from heat and spread into a non-stick baking pan, about 9 x 9. Be sure to spread the polenta uniformly. Place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes or until cool and hardened. It should be just hard enough to slice into squares. Generously oil a non-stick baking pan and lay the crostini with enough space between them to turn easily. Bake at 300 degrees F (180 C) until lightly browned on one side. Turn and brown the other side. Cool on a paper towel to absorb any access grease and top with just about anything. I used pan-seared asparagus last night, and tonight an aged pecorino cheese infused with black truffle.

Enjoy!