Polenta taragna

Polenta taragna is a typical dish of Valtellina and the Bergamo valleys enriched with butter and cheese. Here's how to prepare it.

Polenta taragna is a typical dish of northern Italy, in particular of Valtellina and the Bergamo valleys . Unlike the traditional recipe, this one is more rustic due to the presence of buckwheat flour , a pseudo cereal that we learned about in the pizzoccheri recipe.

The generous doses of butter and cheese make the dish so rich and tasty. In this regard it is necessary to say a few words: there is no codified recipe that establishes the quantity and type of cheeses to be used. These in fact vary according to areas and families. In Valtellina Bitto and/or Casera are usually used, while in the Bergamo Taragna polenta Branzi and Formai de Mut are the most popular.

How to prepare the polenta taragna recipe

1. First of all, take a pot or copper pot for polenta and boil the water . When it has reached temperature, add salt .
2. Pour in the flour , mixing with a whisk to avoid the formation of lumps.
3. Bring back to the boil then adjust the heat so that it just simmers. Let it cook for an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking.
4. Once cooked, add the diced cheeses and butter , stirring until they have melted. Serve it piping hot.

Taragna polenta flour is available on the market in ready-made mixes, even pre-cooked so as to reduce the overall cooking time to about ten minutes. Preparing it at home, however, is just as simple by respecting the proportions we gave you in the recipe. Based on your tastes, you can then adjust the percentages of one or the other, respecting the proportion 500 g of flour for 2 liters of water .

In this video you can see the steps and the final consistency of the dish, which is irresistible to say the least.

This is to all intents and purposes a polenta taragna concia, i.e. enriched with cheese, a bit like the Piedmontese polenta concia. However, if you are looking for some ideas on how to combine it , then rely on the recipes of the mountain refuges: grilled sausage , wild boar stew or venison salmì .

Polenta taragna with the Thermomix

Quick and practical because you won't have to remember to mix, polenta taragna can also be prepared with the Thermomix (all models including those from the Monsieur Cuisine series) but in this case we recommend using pre-cooked flour .

Place the water in the jug and bring it to the boil, setting the temperature to 100°C, speed 1 . After about 10/12 minutes add the salt then with the blades moving pour in the flour and set for 30 sec. speed 3 .

Cook 5 min. 100°C speed 2. Once this time has passed, add butter and cheese and mix quickly. 4 until the ingredients are well mixed.

Conservation

Unlike traditional polenta, taragna is best eaten immediately when the cheeses are still stringy.

Origin and history

The cultivation of buckwheat spread in the area of ​​Lecco and Valtellina around 1500. From the grinding of this pseudo cereal a raw flour was obtained which was originally used in purity for the preparation of polenta which was therefore dark in colour, almost ash.

Only those who could afford it added a little corn flour to soften it and tone down its flavor. In all cases, this recipe is one of the alternatives to more traditional starchy foods such as bread put into play by farmers who exploited what they had available to feed themselves.

The term taragna derives from tarai or tarell , the long wooden stick used to stir polenta in the copper cauldron.

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How to make traditional polenta: a fabulous dish!