Polenta al Forno With Spinach, Ricotta and Fontina Recipe (2024)

This is one of my favorite dishes, I have made it many times. One suggestion: I find that a quick saute of the spinach rather than blanching is easier, works just as well and is a better water-wise choice for those of us in the southwest.

Loved it. Picked really good ricotta et switched the fontina because none was available with a really sharp Tomme (i know it's French, sorry about the that :D) and dropped a few wild mushrooms that i pan fried and deglazed with white wine. Really, really good.

Hmmm... not difficult to make per se, but a lot of steps (make polenta, blanch spinach, etc.: my sink was full of dishes), and the final dish just didn't do it for me. I think less lemon (the lemon flavor was kind of intense) and perhaps more Parmesan instead of the Fontina (more flavor) might improve things. The final dish was rather bland (except for the lemon) and heavy.

This was really excellent. The lemon zest (I just used the zest of one small lemon - didn't measure) and cayenne were the perfect kick. As others, I sauteed the spinach (with garlic) rather than blanching it. And I used whatever cheese I had around--a french Swiss-like cheese, ricotta, and pecorino romano. Would make again and try other vegetables in the filling (I think broccoli would be great).

Next time I will put 1/3 of polenta on bottom. Top needs to be thicker. Have made numerous times. Quite good. Glad to have another use for polenta, my favorite food!

I liked it. This is comfort food, I think; it's meant to be a little bland, a little heavy. Sometimes that's what you want.

Added sautéed onions and mushrooms to the spinach mixture, and also added diced and fried turkey kielbasa. To save time/effort, used chopped & frozen spinach (thawed in microwave & drained). Also used pre-cooked polenta (2 tubes) & heated on stove with water to soften. Used Swiss instead of fontina, & cut back on all cheese amounts. Everyone loved it--even the picky teenager! Lemon zest is important element for zing. Will put into our rotation with these amendments!

Super recipe. I used my deep stoneware 9x9 pan without altering the amounts in the recipe and it was perfect, looks just like the photo. Definitely would not have been enough to make nice layers in a 9x13. Broiled at the end for a few minutes to get some nice crisping and browning on the top. Delicious, even better as leftovers with some spicy marinara sauce.

Just made this last night and my wife went bonkers for it. I also sauteed the spinach per a previous suggestion. Just quicker and easier, IMO. After removing the spinach to cool, I sauteed some diced onions, mushrooms and garlic in the same skillet. Also subbed in red pepper flake for the cayenne. After mixing it all with the cheese, it reminded me of spinach dip. Next time I might add artichoke hearts. Served with warm marinara. It was awesome.

Just made it for 'company' and got rave reviews. Doubled the spinach, added Italian sausage (2 hot and 2 mild) plus sautéed mushrooms & garlic. Had sweet mini-peppers in frig. so sauteed them with a little garlic and added to mixture. Made a little extra polenta (microwave version from Italian friend) to cover everything in pan. Wonderful dinner for 5 and just enough leftovers for tomorrow!

I made the polenta recipe linked to this one and it wasn't nearly enough for two layers. I even used a smaller pan. I would double it.

I carmelized an onion and 4 cloves of garlic and added them to the polenta. I used the zest of 2 lemons in the spinach mixture. It was delicious!

Used suggestions of garlic and sage in polenta. Otherwise, followed recipe exactly. Final result was amazing. Hoping I can cut leftovers into small squares and use as hors d'oeuvres for tomorrow.

This is delicious comfort food! The cheesy, crunchy top put this over the top. I added sauteed onion, garlic, and red pepper and once they were wilted I added the spinach until it cooked down. I also added an egg to the cheese/spinach mix for binding and oregano to up the seasoning. I cooked the polenta in chicken stock and added a bit of parmesan for more flavor. Can't wait for the leftovers!

I washed the spinach, steamed it (easy cleanup), and spun it dry in a salad spinner. Roughly chopped it with kitchen scissors (no cutting board/knife to wash). Mixed the cheeses, spinach, etc., in the salad spinner bowl. Washed all utensils in the salad spinner bowl. Used thin strips of sliced Swiss cheese, easier than shredding. Cooked the polenta in a Dutch oven, no sticking. (Could cook polenta in an instapot, several good recipes online with directions.) Added hot pepper flakes on top.

We took notice of others’ suggestions and included mushrooms, onions, and garlic alongside the spinach. We also added a topping of toasted breadcrumbs and pepitas. Together it made for a more complete meal in our minds. Greatly satisfying dish that we will make again.

Really good - with additions. Sautéed onions and sliced mushrooms in olive oil, added in frozen chopped spinach. Otherwise, I would add more cayenne or, even better, I added a bit of chipotle chili powder over the top of my bowl when I felt it lacked something. That made it just perfect.

Didn’t do much for us. Maybe it needed to firm up a bit. We ended up scooping it into a bowl. Flavors were just ok. Made exactly as instructed.

I included wild asparagus and pancetta in the ricotta mix, and made the polenta in the oven with a mix of milk and stock - otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. Delicious.

Use the larger casserole dish

Meh. Low on flavor. Next time, I'd sautee the spinach with some garlic and either cremini mushrooms or Italian sausage. I'd also omit the lemon zest. I served the leftovers as a base for my homemade cacciatore, which was an improvement.

This was so delicious. Very time consuming. Made it in stages over two days. Totally worth it. Shared it at Thanksgiving dinner and it was a huge hit!

I chopped roasted garlic and sun dried tomatoes and added to the filling. Used aged provolone instead of fontina. Next time I will use a pan with less surface area so that I don’t have to skip on the polenta. I used 10 oz spinach because that’s how it was packed and about 1.5 C ricotta.

Delicious! In order to get the top golden brown it took about 50 minutes in the oven.

Wow this is delicious. Totally agree that frozen spinach is fine here.

Followed the recommendations to sauté the spinach instead of blanching, I also skipped chopping it. I meant to follow the other suggestion to add some alliums to the spinach, but forgot. So crisped some shallots to sprinkle on top - worked well! Agree that the proportions feel slightly off, think this could use 1/3 more polenta, and 1/3 less cheese.

I was surprised how tasty this was! Made a half recipe and used one bunch of kale sauteed with garlic instead of spinach, and Asiago and mozzarella instead of parm and fontina. Threw some leftover fried onions from Thanksgiving on top - not necessary but the crunch was nice!

This was surprisingly tasty! I added about a pound of chicken breast to the spinach mixture because I wasn't confident it would be filling enough without. I also used 4 bags of spinach. Not sure if that's more than a pound, but it was a perfect amount for me. Was too lazy to blanch so I just washed and added it to a hot pan so it'd wilt. Also, I bought one tube of premade polenta and it wasn't enough. Will definitely go with two next time around, or make from scratch.

We loved this. I did use a 9x9 pan and a lot less lemon zest on my second go around. Defiantly can be a vegetarian main course but such a good side for anything as well.

It’s garden time. We had A LOT more arugula than spinach so substituted! Works just fine!