Fresh corn polenta — oh fresh corn polenta! How could I have forgotten about you? I discovered you this time last year. I was out to eat. You were in my bowl. It was love at first bite. You were the very best polenta I had ever tasted, your sweet corn flavor discernible even through the jus of the pair of braised short ribs smothering you. How could this be, I wondered? I chalked it up to lots of butter and cheese and the sort of restaurant trickery that just can’t be duplicated at home. And so I forgot about you. For a whole year. Oh fresh corn polenta! I’m so happy you’re back in my life. In my home no less. And for good this time.
This is the sort of recipe I want to tell everyone about. I want to call all of my friends and family. I want to spark up conversation with people in checkout lines, knock on my neighbors’ doors, stop strangers in the street. It is so good and much to my surprise calls for no sort of restaurant magic — just a box grater, a little butter, and a sauté pan. It’s the kind of thing I could eat every night for dinner, and this week I basically have. I love it with sautéed greens or with a poached egg or just on its own with some cracked pepper and parmesan cheese. Before the season ends, I hope to try it with some sautéed mushrooms, too, which is how they serve it at La Toque, the source of this wonderful recipe.
You’ll discover it takes no time to whip up, just a little elbow grease during preparations — grating the ears of corn can be tiring. With that in mind, this is not a dish to make for company. It is the perfect dinner-for-1 or-2. It is simple and delicious. It is restaurant worthy certainly, but comfort food at its core. And I hope it will leave you wondering, as it has left me, where have you been all my life?
One ear’s worth of grated corn:
Fresh Corn Polenta: Where Have You Been All My Life?
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Original recipe hails from La Toque, where they serve it with sautéed chanterelles. Yum.
For video guidance, check out this Instagram Story.
Ingredients
- 2 ears corn
- 2 teaspoons butter
- kosher salt
- grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- egg for poaching
Instructions
- Clean the corn, removing all husks and threads. Working over a large bowl, grate the kernels off of the cob on the coarse side of a box grater. You will have a very wet coarse pulpy mixture.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the grated corn and season with a good pinch of salt. Simmer over low heat, stirring to prevent browning, for about 3 minutes. The mixture is ready when it just begins to thicken and set.
- Top with some grated Parmigiano Reggiano and/or a poached egg or some sautéed greens.
sweetbittertart says
October 18, 2010 at 11:37 amOh my gosh this looks absolutely amazing!! I believe I can actually taste this right now. Beautiful photos! 🙂
Kamini says
October 18, 2010 at 12:05 pmThis looks divine! Do you think (in non fresh corn season) I could use frozen corn processed to a semi-mush in the food processor?
Mary says
December 26, 2015 at 11:14 amI’m also curious about this. I buy frozen corn because I try to stick with non GMO. Would it work to defrost and blend in a food processor? I think I may just try it out.
alexandra says
December 28, 2015 at 1:07 pmI have no idea but it’s definitely worth a shot. Let me know how it turns out if you do!
heather says
October 18, 2010 at 4:23 pmIs it awful I didn’t know you could do this? I’m so excited now! Honestly I cannot wait to try this out. And definitely with the poached egg!
Cheers,
*Heather*
alexandracooks says
October 18, 2010 at 6:42 pmKamini — It’s interesting that you ask, because I was discussing this recipe with a neighbor, and she brought up a recipe from Cook’s Illustrator for corn chowder that call for doing exactly what you are describing. So, I would give it a whirl. There’s no harm trying!
Heather — I had no idea you could do it either. Not awful at all. I hope you get around to experimenting with this … it’s soooo good!
Beth Appel says
October 19, 2010 at 10:48 amThis looks really interesting. I’ve made regular polenta and added cut up corn a minute or two before it was done, but this is completely different. Gotta try it.
Eliana says
October 20, 2010 at 6:39 pmWhoa – could this look more gorgeous and delicious? I don’t think so!!!
Shannon says
October 22, 2010 at 5:46 amooh, i bet this is fantastic! i still haven’t tried my hand at polenta… which seems wrong 🙂 i’ll have to keep this in mind for when i can get fresh corn again!
Foodycat says
October 24, 2010 at 9:09 amI never knew this was possible! With oozy eggs it looks amazing!
Darcy says
October 26, 2010 at 8:36 pmThanks for another awesome recipe. I made this over the weekend and it was delicious!
Laura says
October 28, 2010 at 6:45 amI love polenta but have yet to try the fresh, real stuff. I can’t wait to try this recipe! The polenta looks delicious and so much easier to make than I imagined. And I love adding egg to nearly any dish, so the poached egg on top has me sold… Thanks for sharing!
miloandnutella says
November 19, 2010 at 7:27 amMust look for fresh corn this weekend — is it too late to find fresh corn?
miloandnutella says
November 19, 2010 at 7:28 amp.s. Am a big fan of runny egg on food like egg on mushroom pizza or bibimbap.
Beth Appel says
August 5, 2011 at 9:43 amAt long last I tried the fresh corn polenta. And by chance I was staying at my daughter’s home, no parmigiana but I had purchased a wonderful camembert at the Brooklyn Victory Garden so I sliced it and topped the polenta with it.
This was heaven in a bowl.
stella says
May 31, 2012 at 12:50 pmlooks great! why would you not serve this to company? it looks pretty good to me especially if you top it with something nice.
alexandracooks says
June 3, 2012 at 8:33 pmStella — you know, I think I probably would serve it to company. It is so delicious. I can’t wait for corn season!
Linda says
August 23, 2013 at 6:36 pmWow. Dinner tonight was a knockout because of this polenta… thanks for sharing!
alexandracooks says
August 24, 2013 at 6:39 pmYay! I don’t think enough people know about fresh corn polenta. It makes me so happy when people discover this. Thanks for writing in!
Amanda says
August 27, 2013 at 4:10 pmOh wow… I’m eating this right now, and it is amazing. Your post inspired me, so I grabbed a couple of ears of corn at the grocery store on my way home so I could make this, and I am so, so glad I did. The mixture of sweet corn and salty parmesan, topped with black pepper and some fruity olive oil… incredible. Thank you!!!
alexandracooks says
September 1, 2013 at 5:04 amAmanda — so wonderful to hear this! This is about my favorite thing to eat this time of year. Glad to hear you approve…we need to spread the word! 🙂
Mel Dimcali says
December 9, 2013 at 5:19 pmKosher salt?! Why do people have to be such narcissistic, pretentious $%&*? Just call it iodized or sea salt.
alexandracooks says
December 10, 2013 at 9:27 pmAre you serious? What planet do you live on that considers the word kosher to be narcissistic and pretentious? Ridiculous.
Aoife says
July 22, 2014 at 6:10 pmJust made this and it was so so good! With pecorino and steamed broccoli…perfect summer comfort food.
alexandra says
July 29, 2014 at 7:15 pmWonderful to hear this! This truly is my favorite thing to make this time of year. Just picked up 6 ears of corn in my CSA. Yum!
Veronica says
September 16, 2014 at 3:26 pmI tried this with corn from my CSA box and it is delicious. Do you know how it freezes? I have a lot of corn from my box this week and would love to freeze some for those cold winter days. Thanks for a great recipe.
alexandra says
September 19, 2014 at 5:53 pmSo happy to hear this, Veronica! This is truly one of my favorite summer dishes. I haven’t ever tried to freeze it — I usually gobble it up so quickly — but I imagine it would freeze very well. It might give off a little liquid at first when it is reheating, but I imagine that will cook off, and that it will taste great. Good luck!
Wendy says
August 6, 2015 at 4:36 pmI read this and went immediately to get the corn I was wondering how I’d use and made it for breakfast, along with some spinach leaves, bacon & grilled tomato. It was so delicious. My late father would have adored it. As I tasted it, my thoughts also turned to my New Mexican friend who loves Hatch green chiles (with everything!!) and wondered if some roasted chiles might be nice chopped through it, or the fresh corn polenta served on the side as an accompaniment to a green chilli dish. I think it’d be pretty good. I’ll have to try it out & let you know.
alexandra says
August 6, 2015 at 6:18 pmYes! That is a brilliant idea. Totally going to try roasting some chilies and adding them to the mix. Love it.
Anne Murphy says
August 15, 2015 at 1:26 pmThis was FABULOUS! Served it for my birthday brunch today and everyone loved it. Thanks for yet another delicious recipe!
alexandra says
August 16, 2015 at 6:20 pmSo happy to hear this, Anne! And Happy Birthday!! Mine is coming up, too…
T says
August 23, 2016 at 4:56 pmOhmygod. Wow. Literally what i said in my mind after the first bite. And that runny yolk mixed in!? Omg…
But i went and ruined the last few bites because i added some strong fruity olive oil. No bueno. I still ate it but before i ruined it, it was so. freaking. good.
I just totally licked the mixing spoon clean.
Btw, i am all over this blog like nobody’s business. I’ve tried several recipes in the last 2 weeks. That’s saying a lot. I usually don’t stick around blogs for too long. And I NEVER comment.. but here i am. This is my first ever comment on someone’s blog. 🙂
Oh and also, i voted for you. Twice. Did you know you can go back and keep voting?? Haha.
THANKS for the great recipes.
alexandra says
August 23, 2016 at 7:08 pmhaha, I love all of this — maybe my favorite comment of all time? 🙂 Too bad about the olive oil but glad you were able to enjoy it before it was ruined — I’m still learning the rules of olive oil. It can be SO good, but then SO overpowering, and it’s hard to know when it’s going to cross the line. Anyway, thanks so much for writing in, thanks so much for voting (twice!!), and thanks so much for the great comment.
Karen says
July 7, 2018 at 6:53 pmAli, this tonight for our 34th anniversary dinner. Will top with seared Cajun scallops, andouille pieces and pickled shallots. Hope your kitchen came out as you hoped. WE are back in San Diego and loving being close to family again. Do miss Capital District; hope all is well with your family.