Chestnut Polenta (Polenta di Castagne con Ricotta)

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Creamy, naturally sweet polenta made from chestnut flour. Serve as a side dish, dessert, or for breakfast or brunch.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: Italian, Tuscan

Keyword: chestnut polenta recipe, farina de castagne recette

Servings: servings

Calories: 90kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 5

Equipment

1 1 qt sauce pot
1 Whisk
1 Spatula
1 3 cup mixing bowl or mold
1 Offset spatula, for slicing

Ingredients

½ cup Italian chestnut flour *see note on using homemade flour
1.25 cups Whole milk
⅛th Teaspoon Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Instructions

Whisk the flour, water and salt, then bring to a simmer in a small pot.
Cook the mixture on medium heat at a brisk bubble, whisking regularly, for 10 minutes over medium heat.
This is traditionally cooked slowly on the stovetop like grits, but if you want to bake it, you can bake the pan in the oven at 325F, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes at this point.
Turn the heat down to low, put the pan on the smallest burner and cook, stirring occasionally for about 30-45 minutes. The mixture should be very thick.
Pour the mixture into a small 2 cup capacity bowl rubbed with oil. Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate.
After cooling, the polenta should be firm to the touch, but lighter and more wiggly than typical corn polenta. Unmold it, cut into thick slices and serve with dollops of ricotta cheese and a drizzle of chestnut honey.

Video

Notes

Using Homemade Chestnut Flour

If you want to use homemade chestnut flour here you can, but it will be less sweet and will have more of a coarse texture. You will also want to increase the milk to 1.5 cups.

Serving as Pictured

To serve the polenta as pictured, simmer peeled chestnuts in a simple syrup until soft, then cut into thick slices. Warm a few spoonfuls of chestnut honey, mix with the candied chestnuts and drizzle over the finished polenta.

Nutrition