# Polenta concia

Aosta Valley polenta with Fontina and butter. Aosta, Valle d'Aosta. Pasta & Rice (Primi & Risotti).

> The Aosta Valley's dressed polenta: cornmeal cooked for about 50 minutes, Fontina PDO and butter stirred in off the heat and more butter poured over boiling hot, to the Fontina PDO consortium's recipe.

- Level of proof: Consortium or town standard (Consorzio o comune). A reference recipe set by a protection consortium or by the town the dish is named after.
- Sources checked: 2026-10-27
- Published: 2026-10-26
- Page: https://nonnario.com/recipes/polenta-concia/

## In short

- Only cornmeal, Fontina PDO, butter, coarse salt and pepper.
- 350 g of cornmeal rained into 1.5 l of boiling salted water, then cooked on low heat for about 50 minutes, stirring.
- The Fontina, rind off, diced small or coarsely grated, goes in off the heat with half the butter.
- The rest of the butter is poured over boiling hot, and the polenta is served at once.

Also called: polenta alla valdostana.

Suitable for: vegetarian, gluten-free, as written. No meat, fish, lard or meat broth, as written. Some traditional cheeses are made with animal rennet. No wheat, barley or rye, as written. Check the labels of stock cubes and other packaged ingredients.

## Where it comes from

Polenta concia is dressed polenta (conciare means to season or enrich): cornmeal cooked slowly in a pot or a copper paiolo, then made rich with cheese and butter. It comes from the peasant cooking of the mountains, and several Alpine areas have their own version with their local cheeses, from the Biellese and Valtellina to parts of Lombardy. In the Aosta Valley, where polenta rules the table, it is made with Fontina PDO and butter, and the Fontina consortium counts it among the valley's most popular dishes.

This page follows the recipe that the Fontina PDO consortium, the body that protects the cheese, publishes among its traditional Aosta Valley recipes. The consortium protects the cheese rather than the dish, but we found no more authoritative text for the dish itself. Another version, just as well documented in the valley, layers the hot polenta in a dish with more than twice as much sliced Fontina, pours the butter over and bakes it for ten minutes; some cooks add toma and Grana Padano. Both are among the variants. The heat, the times the recipe leaves open and the size of the dice are ours, marked in the method.

- Defined by: Consorzio Produttori e Tutela della DOP Fontina
- Reference: ‘Polenta concia con Fontina Dop’, one of the consortium's traditional Aosta Valley recipes (Ricette Tradizionali)

## Sources

- [Consorzio Produttori e Tutela della DOP Fontina: ‘Polenta concia con Fontina Dop’, one of its traditional Aosta Valley recipes (Italian)](https://www.fontina-dop.it/ricette/polenta-concia-con-fontina-dop/)
- [Consorzio Produttori e Tutela della DOP Fontina: Fontina in Aosta Valley cooking, from polenta concia to fonduta (Italian)](https://www.fontina-dop.it/la-fontina-dop-nella-cucina-valdostana-dalla-polenta-concia-alla-fonduta/)
- [Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta, tourism department (Lovevda, the official tourism site): polenta concia (Italian)](https://www.lovevda.it/it/enogastronomia/ricette/polenta-concia)
- [Italia.it, the Ministry of Tourism's portal: polenta concia, a Viaggio Italiano video recipe (Italian)](https://www.italia.it/it/valle-aosta/cosa-fare/videoricetta-viaggio-italiano-valle-d-aosta)
- [Gambero Rosso: where to eat polenta in the Aosta Valley (Italian)](https://www.gamberorosso.it/notizie/rubriche/miniguide/mangiare-polenta-valle-daosta/)
- [Dissapore: polenta concia, the typical Aosta Valley recipe (Italian)](https://www.dissapore.com/ricette/polenta-concia/)
- [Scatti di Gusto: the typical dishes of Aosta Valley cooking (Italian)](https://www.scattidigusto.it/i-piatti-tipici-della-cucina-valdostana-che-si-devono-provare)

## Ingredients

For 4 servings, in metric units.

### For the polenta

- 1.5 l water
- 1 tbsp coarse salt (level)
- 350 g cornmeal (farina di mais, medium grind or bramata, not instant)

### To dress it

- 400 g Fontina PDO
- 200 g butter (half to stir in, half to melt and pour over)
- black pepper (to grind over)

## Equipment

- Heavy-bottomed pot of about 4 l, or a copper paiolo
- Whisk
- Long-handled wooden spoon
- Knife, or a grater with large holes, for the Fontina
- Small pan, for the butter
- Serving plate or wooden board

## Method

Hands-on 9 min, cooking 1 h.

About 1 hour 10 minutes, almost all of it the polenta's slow cooking (the consortium allows an hour). Prepare the Fontina while it cooks, and have the plate or board ready: polenta concia is served the moment it is made.

### The polenta

This follows the Fontina consortium's recipe. Steps marked as the official text say only what it says; the times, heat and sizes it does not give are in the step's details and in tips marked ‘Our guide’.

1. **Bring the salted water to the boil** (Cooking 10 min; heat: high; follows the official text). Pour 1.5 l of water into a heavy-bottomed pot or a copper paiolo, add a level tablespoon of coarse salt and bring it to the boil.
   Check: A full, rolling boil.
   Tip: Our guide: about 10 minutes on high heat.
2. **Rain in the cornmeal, whisking** (Hands-on 3 min; follows the official text). Rain in the cornmeal, stirring with a whisk so that no lumps form.
   Check: Smooth and thickening evenly, with no lumps.
   Tip: Our guide: pour it slowly, a little at a time, and keep whisking until it is smooth.
3. **Lower the heat and cook for about 50 minutes, stirring** (Cooking 50 min; heat: low; follows the official text). Lower the heat and go on cooking for about 50 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.
   Check: Thick, smooth and glossy; it comes away from the sides of the pot as you stir, and a taste has no raw, gritty bite.
   Tip: Our guide: low enough that the polenta only bubbles slowly. Stir at least every few minutes, from the sides to the centre and back, scraping the bottom so it does not catch.
   Tip: Our guide: polenta spits as it bubbles, so use a long-handled spoon and keep your hand clear.
4. **Meanwhile, prepare the Fontina** (follows the official text). Meanwhile, remove the rind from the Fontina and cut it into small cubes, or grate it on a grater with large holes.
   Check: No rind left; small, even cubes or coarse shreds.
   Tip: Our guide: cubes of about 1 cm. Cut 100 g of the butter into pieces and put the other 100 g in the small pan.

### The dressing

5. **Off the heat, stir in the Fontina and half the butter** (Hands-on 2–3 min; follows the official text). When the polenta is cooked, take it off the heat, add the Fontina and half the butter, and stir well until it melts.
   Check: No cubes of cheese are left: the polenta is smooth and glossy and pulls into strings from the spoon.
6. **Turn it out** (Hands-on 1 min; follows the official text). Turn the polenta out onto a plate or a board.
   Check: It lies in one soft mound; scrape out what clings to the pot with the spoon.
   Tip: The consortium's other telling of the recipe allows a baking tray as well.
7. **Pour over the rest of the butter, boiling hot** (Hands-on 2–3 min; heat: medium; follows the official text). Melt the remaining butter and pour it, boiling hot, over the polenta.
   Check: Melted, foaming and sizzling, still pale gold, when it goes on.
   Tip: Our guide: melt it over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, take it off the heat as soon as it foams, and pour it at once, before it browns.
8. **Pepper, and serve at once** (Hands-on 1 min; follows the official text). Dust it with a grinding of pepper and serve straight away.
   Tip: Our guide: it firms as it cools. Put any left over in a shallow covered container in the fridge within 2 hours of cooking, use it within 3 days, and reheat it until hot all through, at least 75 °C at the centre.
   Tip: The consortium pairs it with a Torrette, a velvety red.

## Good to know

- Keeping: A dish for straight away: it sets firm as it stands. Leftovers can be sliced and grilled until browned and hot all through, to serve as a starter or beside a board of cured meats and cheese. ([source](https://www.dissapore.com/ricette/polenta-concia/))
- Variant: Baked in layers: For four: 375 g of cornmeal cooked in 1.5 l of salted water for 50 minutes, stirring; layered while hot in a dish with 850 g of thinly sliced Fontina, starting with polenta and ending with cheese; 200 g of butter, melted, poured over, and 10 minutes in the oven at 180 °C. ([source](https://www.italia.it/it/valle-aosta/cosa-fare/videoricetta-viaggio-italiano-valle-d-aosta))
- Variant: With brown butter: The butter cooked slowly until golden and nutty, a burro nocciola or beurre noisette, before it goes over the polenta. ([source](https://www.dissapore.com/ricette/polenta-concia/))
- Variant: With toma and Grana: For four: 250 g of bramata cornmeal in 1 l of water, cooked 45 minutes, with 200 g of Fontina and 100 g of toma stirred in 5 minutes before the end; served in bowls with 100 g of brown butter, 40 g of grated Grana Padano and pepper. ([source](https://www.dissapore.com/ricette/polenta-concia/))

## Common mistakes

- Tipping the cornmeal in all at once: it forms lumps. Rain it in, whisking.
- Cutting the cooking short: the polenta needs about 50 minutes on low heat, or it stays raw and gritty.
- Leaving the Fontina in big pieces, or with its rind: dice it small or grate it, so it melts into the polenta off the heat.
- Letting it wait. Polenta concia firms up as it cools; serve it as soon as it is ready.

## Cooking it outside Italy

- Buy cheese marked Fontina PDO (Fontina DOP on Italian labels): cheeses sold simply as fontina may be imitations.
- For the cornmeal, ask for medium-grind polenta meal (bramata), not instant polenta, which cooks in minutes and would not stand 50 minutes on the heat.

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From Nonnario, the documented recipes of Italy: https://nonnario.com/recipes/polenta-concia/. Cite the recipe's page and the month its sources were checked; for the official text itself, cite the document listed under its sources.