How to make fried polenta, a perfect finger food for any occasion

Fried polenta is a delicious poor cuisine dish perfect for any occasion: here's how to prepare it!

Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, fried polenta sticks are truly delicious, perfect for serving at dinner or for a tasty aperitif, but also as an imaginative accompaniment to many second courses.

Especially during autumn and winter , polenta is always an excellent idea, and this preparation differs from the classic way in which it is usually served: in practice, the polenta is prepared and left to cool completely, to then cut it into sticks and fry it .

You can also transform these fried polenta sticks into finger food or an appetizer, serving them together with sauces or simple flavored mayonnaise . And if you need recipes with leftover polenta, rest assured that you won't find anything tastier!

How to make fried polenta

1. Start pouring the water into a pan, heat it and add salt to it near the boil.
2. Add the flour gradually , making sure to continue mixing with a whisk or the classic wooden spoon.
3. Add a drizzle of oil to prevent lumps from forming, then continue stirring until it comes to the boil again.
4. At this point we lower the heat to minimum, continuing to mix.
5. Cook the polenta, stirring constantly, it will take about 40-50 minutes .
6. Once the time has passed, raise the heat slightly until it comes away from the edges, then turn it off and immediately remove it from the pan to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.
7. Invert it onto a baking tray and level the surface well with a spatula.
8. Cover it with a sheet of baking paper and let it cool completely and be nice and compact (to speed up the process you can also place it in the fridge for 2-3 hours).
9. At this point you can cut the cold polenta into sticks approximately 7-8 cm long.
10. Heat some sunflower seed oil, or extra virgin olive oil if you prefer, and then dip the polenta sticks, frying them to perfection (2-3 minutes per side will be enough).
11. Drain them and absorb the excess oil with kitchen paper, then place them on a serving tray.
12. Serve your fried polenta sticks piping hot, as an accompaniment to your second courses or as an aperitif .
13. Do you want an even crispier result? Then you can prepare some breaded and fried polenta: to do so, bread the sticks in corn flour before dipping them into boiling oil!

And here is a video recipe very similar to our preparation, be careful because in this case it is very likely that instant polenta was used:

Also try the polenta concia !

storage

We recommend consuming these polenta sticks at the moment , when they are still very hot. We do not recommend freezing in the freezer.

Read also

How to make traditional polenta: a fabulous dish!