Polenta Bites

When I host a dinner party I like to start with an Amuse Bouche, or if the theme is Italian, a Piccolo Morso, a bite-size goodie to start the meal. For Erin's birthday dinner I made Polenta Bites with Mustard Greens and Pancetta. I forgot to take a picture of the finished bite though! I am sure I will make these again and I will try to remember to take a picture.

I started by making polenta.

2 cups water

1/2 t salt

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/3 cup grated parmesan

2 T butter

I brought the salted water to a boil then added the cornmeal in a steady stream, whisking the whole time. I turned the heat down and kept cooking the polenta until it started pulling away from the sides of the pot. You don't have to do this if you want creamy polenta, but I wanted polenta that I could chill and cut into a circle that would hold its form. I then took the polenta off the heat and added the parmesan cheese and butter. I greased a small pan, put parchment paper in it that was cut to fit, and then greased the parchment paper. Here is what the polenta looked like when it when it was ready for the cheese and butter to be added:

You can see my prepared pan in the background. I spread the polenta in the pan. I didn't make enough to fill the pan so I just spread it out as evenly as I could at the depth I wanted. I covered the pan and put it in the fridge to set up.

For the mustard greens, I just cut the greens into chiffonade, or ribbons. First I cut the stem out leaving two halves of each leaf. Then I rolled up the halves and sliced them making the ribbons. I took some pancetta, not sure how much, but it was one 1/4 inch thick slice, diced it, and cooked it in a skillet. When it was done, I took the pancetta out of the skillet and put the greens in to wilt and cook a little. When that was done, I returned the pancetta to the skillet along with some black pepper. Taste it before you add salt because pancetta can be really salty.

To serve, I cut out little circles of polenta and cooked them in a bit of olive oil until they were crispy. After I served the Piccolo Morso and went back in the kitchen, I did remember to take a picture of the little polenta circles that didn't make the cut to be served and took a picture of them.

Cute, huh? This is an appetizer that I will definitely make again.