Creamy Polenta with Tomato Beans and Pancetta (Italian-Style Recipe)
Creamy Polenta with Tomato Beans and Pancetta (Italian-Style Recipe)
Creamy Anson Mills polenta topped with slow-simmered beans, tomatoes, and pancetta—finished with a splash of red wine vinegar that brings the whole dish into balance. Simple, humble, and deeply satisfying.
Creamy Polenta with Tomato Beans and Pancetta (Italian-Style Recipe)
Polenta is simple food. Which means there’s nowhere to hide.
When a dish is built on just a handful of ingredients—corn, beans, tomatoes, pork—quality isn’t optional. It’s the whole point. Good polenta, like Anson Mills, comes from thoughtfully grown, freshly milled corn. It cooks up with real corn sweetness, a warm aroma, and a texture that turns creamy instead of pasty. Cheap or instant polenta cooks faster, sure, but it tastes flat. You can dress it up all you want and it never quite becomes a foundation—it’s just filler.
This bowl is a reminder of what Italian cooking does best: humble ingredients, treated with care, working together so the sum is far greater than the parts. Rancho Gordo beans bring body and broth. Pancetta adds richness without smoke. Tomatoes give sweetness and depth. And then there’s the quiet hero—a small splash of red wine vinegar at the end.
The vinegar doesn’t make the dish sour. It makes it awake. It cuts through the pancetta fat, lifts the tomatoes, and keeps the beans tasting alive. Without it, the dish would be comforting but heavy. With it, everything snaps into focus.
Simple food. Thoughtful ingredients. A little patience at the stove.
This one punches way above its weight.
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Ingredient Spotlight: Pancetta
Pancetta is bacon’s Italian cousin—but without the smoke.
Italian cooking tends to avoid smokiness because it can overpower everything else on the plate. Pancetta delivers pure pork flavor: rich, sweet, and savory, without taking over.
As an American, I love bacon. No argument there.
But in this dish, pancetta does the better job. It adds depth while letting the tomatoes, beans, and polenta stay in the spotlight.
Bring 4 cups of water to a gentle boil and season generously with salt.
Slowly whisk in 1 cup polenta, reducing heat to low.
Simmer for 30–40 minutes, whisking every 5 minutes to prevent sticking. Be sure to scrape the bottom and corners of the pot (a rounded-bottom pot helps).
When smooth and creamy, season with salt and white pepper. Cover and keep warm.
2. Crisp the Pancetta
In a heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the pancetta until crisp.
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Reserve the rendered fat in the pot.
3. Build the Flavor Base
Add the diced red onion to the pancetta fat. Cook until soft and translucent, about 5–7 minutes.
Add the roasted garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, letting it darken slightly.
4. Simmer the Sauce
Add the diced tomatoes, chicken stock, red wine vinegar, salt, black pepper, and a handful of torn basil.
Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15–20 minutes, until slightly thickened and cohesive.
5. Add the Beans
Stir in the cooked beans and continue simmering another 15–20 minutes, until everything is glossy and well integrated.
Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, or a small splash of vinegar if needed.
6. Serve
Spoon creamy polenta into bowls.
Top with the tomato beans and finish with crispy pancetta and fresh basil.
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When Ingredients Do the Heavy Lifting
Using high-quality ingredients like Anson Mills polenta and Rancho Gordo beans quietly raises the ceiling on a dish like this.
Italian cooking has always understood this. Keep the technique simple. Don’t overwork it. Let great ingredients speak.
Good corn. Good beans. A little fat. A little acid.
On their own, each element is humble. Together, they edge into something that feels like fine dining—not because they’re fancy, but because they’re treated with respect.
Like a great team, the sum is much greater than the parts.
A Simple Bonus (Kid-Approved)
Before dinner, my kids love a simple scoop of hot polenta with a pat of Kerrygold butter and a crack of fresh black pepper as an appetizer.
No sauce. No extras. Just corn, butter, and seasoning.
And once again, the same lesson shows up: when the ingredients are good, simplicity wins. The sum punches way above the combined weight of its parts.
Final Thought
This is the kind of food that reminds you how little you actually need to eat well.
A pot. A spoon. A little patience.
Food that doesn’t try too hard—but still delivers.
That’s Italian cooking at its finest.
And that’s more than enough.
More Dishes That Love Polenta
Once you start cooking good polenta, you realize it’s not just a side—it’s a canvas. These dishes all shine when spooned over a warm bowl:
Why settle for bland? This one-pan chicken thigh dinner layers roasted garlic, chickpeas, shiitake mushrooms, and a splash of red wine — all simmered down into something you’ll want to spoon over creamy polenta and eat straight outta the pan.
A hearty, nourishing stew that marries tender pork, creamy cranberry beans, shiitake mushrooms, and a splash of aged balsamic. Perfect for cold nights.
This rustic pasta recipe features Rancho Gordo Mezze Maniche with creamy white beans, roasted red peppers, bitter broccoli rabe, and Pecorino Romano. Finished with toasted almonds for the perfect cozy dinner.
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