how2heroes » Polenta con Puccu

Family Recipes » Polenta con Puccu

Here's a meal to soothe the soul. Chicken simmered in onions, red wine, cloves, mushrooms and rich tomato paste is a delicious accompaniment to creamy slow-cooked polenta. Eric Freiman-Polli shares the secrets of his Italian grandmothers for a wonderful dish to share with your family.

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Serves 6

Ingredients

For Polenta

6 cups cold water
2 cups cornmeal, medium ground

For Puccu

4 tbsp olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
pinch of kosher salt
12 pieces of chicken, legs & thighs
1 cup red wine (divided as ¼ & ¾ cup)
6 oz tomato paste
6 whole cloves
¼ cup dried porcini mushrooms

Special Equipment

large rondeau (straight-sided sauté pan) with cover
medium heavy-bottomed sauce pot
wooden spoon
whisk
wooden cutting board
kitchen twine

How-to

Cook Polenta - For best results, get the polenta going, then start the chicken so they'll both be done around the same time

Put 6 cups of cold water in a large pot and add 2 cups of cornmeal
Whisk thoroughly to remove any lumps. Turn the heat to high and stir with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes
As the cornmeal absorbs the water, continue to stir every 5 minutes
Once the cornmeal begins to resemble polenta, turn the heat down to medium and let it cook undisturbed for 10 minutes. The polenta will release steam and sputter a little
Once it has begun to sputter, deeply stir (going to bottom of pan) every 10 minutes. Polenta should be fully cooked within ½ hour

Make Puccu

Heat oil in a frying pan over high heat
Add onions and a pinch of salt. Turn down heat so you don't burn the onions. Cook onions until they are translucent (about 4 minutes)
Add chicken to the pan, trying to push the chicken down under the onions. Increase heat to medium-high and cook chicken about 5 minutes per side
Increase heat to high and deglaze the pan with ¾ cup red wine
Mix tomato paste with ¼ cup of wine, add in and stir well
Add cloves and porcini mushrooms
Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 30-35 minutes, or until chicken falls off of the bone

Plate & Serve

Flip pot with polenta over on a wooden cutting board and bang the bottom to release. Cut polenta into pieces using a string (for clean slices) or a knife and place on a plate with a large spoonful of puccu in the middle
Save the crunchy polenta that forms along the inside of the pot and dip in the extra sauce. It's delicious!!

This is Eric's grandmother's recipe on his mother side. She's from a small village in Northern Italy called Pinzolo. The copper pot he uses in the video is his grandmother's and it's from 1919. The polenta spoon he uses in the video was hand carved by his grandfather and given to his mother as a wedding present. The spoon is specifically designed for polenta - it enables you to scoop the polenta from the bottom of the pan to the top so it cooks properly. For those not fortunate enough to have a polenta spoon, a wooden spoon is just fine.