Italian corn casserole with Fontina cheese

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 tsp sea salt, coarse
• 300 g corn flour, coarse yellow or polenta semolina
• 2 tsp herbs, chopped (thyme, marjoram, oregano)
• 180 g cheese (Fontania cheese from the Aosta Valley), sliced
• 30 g butter
• Pepper, freshly ground

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Polenta and fountain in cake

Bring 1.5 liters of water to a boil in a large pot and add salt. Slowly add the cornflour, stirring constantly (first with a whisk, then with a wooden spoon). Cook the polenta over low heat for 3/4 to 1 hour. Stir constantly during this time to avoid burning. When the polenta starts to separate from the pot, pour it into a dish rinsed with cold water. Let it cool and turn out. Cut horizontally into 1/2 cm thick slices using a string. In a buttered baking dish, alternate a slice of polenta with a layer of Fontina cheese sprinkled with pepper and herbs. The top layer should be polenta. Top with knobs of butter and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for about half an hour, until the casserole develops a beautiful, golden brown crust.