My husband George will happily eat a bowl of noodles or a baked potato seasoned with just butter and cheese. Give me a simple, starchy base like pasta, rice, potatoes, or cornmeal, and I will bury it in a deeply flavored sauce every time. With the polenta recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, I can satisfy both of us.

Homemade stock and dried herbs give polenta just enough flavor to stand on its own, especially when baked or grilled and smothered in cheese. Yet it remains neutral enough to take any of my favorite sauces. I’ve served polenta as a bruschetta-like appetizer, a holiday side dish, and the base layer for a weeknight meal—and then snacked on the leftovers like cornbread. I often make a double batch of polenta and serve half straight off the stove in its soft, porridge-like form. I spread the rest in a baking pan and refrigerate it until the next day to bake and serve as an entirely different meal.

Learn more about making creamy and baked polenta and get the complete recipe for Cheese-Topped Baked Polenta in my column.

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Twice as Tasty

The options for serving polenta are almost endless. Treat soft polenta like mashed potatoes and smother it in a gravy. Cover baked or grilled polenta in a marinara, or serve it instead of cornbread with chili or stew.

Here are just a few recipes on the blog that I like to serve over polenta. You can find more in the recipe index.

• Seared Shrimp in Garlic Oil
• Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy
• Grilled Tomato Pizza Sauce
• Romesco-Inspired Grilled Pepper and Almond Sauce
• Vegan Oven-Baked Beans

You can also learn more about making variations of another highly versatile northern Italy dish, risotto, in this blog post.

Want more Twice as Tasty recipes? Get my books! Click here to order a personally signed, packaged, and shipped copy of The Complete Guide to Pickling directly from me. I also share tasty ways to use pickles in The Pickled Picnic; it’s only available here.