Recipe

Slow-Cooked Polenta with Parmesan Broth

Topped with creamy mascarpone cheese and a sprinkle of Grana Padano

By Gabriela Gomez-Misserian
Recipe by Michael Kramer

January 29, 2025

Photo: ANDREW CEBULKA

A base of homemade Parmesan brodo—vegetables boiled alongside salty rinds of cheese—gives a next-level upgrade to this Italian cousin to grits. Greenville chef Michael Kramer, who shares his recipe for slow-cooked polenta in his debut cookbook, Jianna, uses heirloom ground corn from Colonial Milling Co. out of Pauline, South Carolina, and fries up next-day leftovers to make polenta cakes.

Ingredients

FOR THE PARMESAN BRODO (YIELD: 1 gallon)
- 1 cup peeled yellow onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 celery stalk, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pound Parmesan rinds or Grana Padano rinds
FOR THE SACHET
- 3 bay leaves
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp. sliced garlic
- 1 tsp. whole black peppercorns
- ¼ tsp. whole fennel seeds
FOR THE POLENTA (YIELD: 3 cups)
- 2 cups Parmesan brodo
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups stone-ground polenta
- ¼ cup mascarpone cheese
- ½ cup grated Grana Padano
- Kosher salt (to taste)

Preparation

Make the Parmesan brodo: Combine onion, celery, carrot, and cheese rinds with 1 gallon of water in a large stockpot. Place all sachet ingredients in cheesecloth and tie oﬀ at the top with butcher twine. Add the sachet to the pot and bring to a light simmer. Cook the mixture over low heat for 1 hour, stirring regularly to make sure the rinds don’t stick to the bottom and burn. Strain through a ﬁne-mesh strainer. Set aside and cool completely until ready to use, or freeze in small quantities and use as needed.

Make the polenta: In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, combine Parmesan brodo, heavy cream, and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil. Slowly pour in polenta in a steady stream while whisking quickly to avoid lumps. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes, constantly whisking to avoid lumps and to prevent burning the bottom. (If polenta is too thick, add a little more water. The consistency should be fairly smooth and uniform and not too gritty, similar to porridge.) Stir in mascarpone cheese, Grana Padano, and kosher salt.

Set aside and keep warm until ready to serve. (To prevent a skin forming, lay parchment paper or plastic wrap directly on top of the polenta until ready to use.)

Gabriela Gomez-Misserian, Garden & Gun’s digital producer, joined the magazine in 2021 after studying English and studio art in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. She is an oil painter and gardener, often uniting her interests to write about creatives—whether artists, naturalists, designers, or curators—across the South. Gabriela paints and lives in downtown Charleston with her golden retriever rescue, Clementine.