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Benvenuti al Tutti!

Welcome to Luigi's Tastes of Italy

This blog is my small dedication to Italian cooking, and is abolutely 100% free of pretentiousness, complicated ingredients, or any effort to present Italian cuisine as anything other than it really is, very simple.

Hope you enjoy reading my posts and maybe trying out some of the recipes.

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Torta Di Polenta, e Limone

To be perfectly honest, I am not the worlds biggest fan of Polenta.

I mean I do like it,  we eat it reasonably often, both wet, and in solid form. Polenta however is not something I would dream about, or suddenly get an urge, or craving to eat.

So it probably comes as no surprise that I tried something a little different to make things more exciting. As a child, I can remember eating a Polenta based tart, and as vile as maybe it sounds, it was actually delicious.

I could remember it was very sharp, and sweet at the same time. Obviously it was made with fresh lemons picked from the tree in the garden, but still my hopes in creating a replica using imported produce was quite high.

The main thing to note about the ingredients, is that you definitely need to use real Polenta, rather than the "instant" stuff, but at a push, the latter does work reasonably well, but the texture will suffer, and you will find it more dense, rather than crumbly and light.

It is also worth mentioning that when making the Lemon Syrup, you could add lemon zest as we sometimes do, it adds an extra note of bitterness. As always with cooking, tinker as you wish. There is also no reason why it wouldn't be delicious combining limes into this original recipe.



INGREDIENTS:

150g (5 oz)      unsalted butter
100g (3.5 oz)   granulated sugar
100g (3.5 oz)   polenta (non instant if possible)
200g (7oz)       ground almonds, or almond flour
50g   (1.5oz)    flaked almonds
3 eggs
1 lemon

Lemon Syrup
2 lemons, juiced,
50g sugar
50ml water



METHOD:

-First step is to cream together the butter and sugar until nicely combined, and lightened in colour.

-Next combine the eggs into this mixture, don't worry if it looks vile, or splitting, it will come together again later.

-Add the polenta, ground almonds, flaked almonds, the Lemon zest (optional) and/or juice. Mix very well, until everything is nicely combined.

-Pour the mixture into a flan case or equivalent and bake in the middle of an oven for around 30-45 minutes, at about Gas Mark 5 (190 C) until looking slightly golden, a hint of colour.

-Meanwhile prepare the syrup by heating together the sugar, lemon juice and water, you may need slightly more water than the 50ml I listed, but use that as a starting point.  It doesn't need to be thick, but thick enough to coat and cling to the back of a spoon, so adjust accordingly.

-Once the tart has cooled sufficiently, remove from the flan case and place onto a serving plate.  Then while it is still warm, pour over the hot lemon syrup.

You should end up with something resembling the below, but most probably yours will look better, as im not really one for "prettying up" food at home.


SERVING SUGGESTION:

This can be eaten while it is warm, or chilled, and is really nice served with a sweetened whipped cream, or creme fraiche.  This will keep in the fridge for a few days no problem at all, and if anything the flavours intensify.

As can be seen above, being boring, I often eat it plainly. Incidentally it probably appears more crumbly than it is, it does actually hold together quite well! Enjoy!

30 comments:

Kitten with a Whisk said...

This sounds so good. I'm like you though, I generally don't worry about "styling" my food at home.

Hiperica di Lady Boheme said...

Delicious recipe! Kisses

Joanne said...

I am thoroughly addicted to polenta, and I'm pretty sure this would just substantiate that claim. In my mind. And in my mouth. Looks delicious!

Mari said...

I never had Polenta but I think I would love it! I love lemon squares and flan and this is like a hybrid of those two things lol

Velva said...

This looks scrumptious! I would love it.

Araba Felice said...

I'm a big fan of lemons, no matter where they are :-)
So, I think I'll try even with polenta...

Micaela said...

dev'essere buonissima, la provo volentieri!

Kat said...

Looks so good Luigi and I love lemon. Thanks for posting.

Ana Powell said...

Delicious recipe ♥

Kim said...

An almond flavored cake with lemon syrup sounds awesome! Sounds like a perfect light dessert.

Unknown said...

i have a pack of polenta in my kitchen, and i dint know how to use it, now i can prepare your torta, its seems tasty and fantastic!sorry mi english its a little poor..

CaSaundraLeigh said...

I have the same feeling towards polenta! However, I do love it creamed with pepperjack cheese and topped with some chile pork and peppers!

Donna said...

This looks good. My mom made me polenta and it was disgusting! I guess she needed your recipe lol!

Carla and Michael said...

Wow Luigi, that's a new one for me. Never heard of using polenta in this fashion. Definately worth a try. Thanks.

Chetana Suvarna Ganatra said...

I think polenta is the most under rated ingredient whr ppl often do not to like to experiment with.Your recipe is soo good, never knew nything such existed.Thks for sharing Luigi.
Between m a food blogger fm down under and first time to ur cool Italiano blog.
Will love to come often to learn more abt ur side of the world's cuisine...good on ya.
Cheers,
Chetana
www.myrecipegalore.blogspot.com

Ann Minard said...

Looks so delicous. Being Neapolitan I love anything with Lemons! In Ischia lemons were the size of grapefruit!

Ann Minard said...

Are you on facebook.

Unknown said...

This recipe sounds delicious! I am a love polenta, so this is a dish I will have to try!

Kate said...

hey, first time im looking at your blog and it looks great! I'm not a huge fan of polenta either and i lived in Italy for yrs!

I'm glad i've found your blog now. :)

P.S. Thank you for the follow!

Joanne said...

You had BETTER stop by for dinner if you ever come visit NY!

Erica said...

Oh my. This recipe has my name all over it!

Aleksandra Rybinska said...

I really like polenta. Thank you for recipe. Thank you for comment on my blog.
Luigi I have 10 recipes from Polish cuisine :) http://alexandras-recipes.blogspot.com/search/label/Polish%20Cuisine

Unknown said...

I'm going to revive my polenta skills off the back of this recipe- hate it when it violently splashes at you though. Polenta burn is the worst- worth it though

Dom said...

thanks for the nice comments Luigi... your blog is excellent too and so good that you have a really strong blog 'voice'... there's so much for me to read and salivate over... can't wait! happy cooking!

Anonymous said...

Looks lovely! I will try this out at some time!

Catherine said...

This looks wonderful Luigi! I must try making this soon!

Anonymous said...

Amazing recipe. I ll definitely try it.I love almond flavour in sweets.

sheba said...

it looks sooooo good..im hooked for sure.

tam said...

Wow! Lemon in any kind of pudding is a thumbs up from me! Thanks for stopping by I think your my first male commenter! x

Ilaria said...

Ecco come posso utilizzare quel pacchetto di polenta avanzato! Ciaoooo

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