Polenta and Treviso sopressa: the traditional recipe for the winter dish of the Marca. Toasted polenta and cooked sopressa, ready in 60 minutes.
Introduction
Polenta and sopressa is the dish that in the Marca Trevigiana has been put on the table in winter from the start: yellow cornmeal, fatty sausage, long cooking that warms the house. It is not chef's cooking, it is the cooking of necessity that became a flag. The polenta is cooked until it comes away from the pot, then poured onto a wooden board and left to set; the sopressa — the spiced, fatty Veneto sausage — is cooked over low heat in a pan or in the oven, until it releases its fat and turns soft.
The dish is eaten hot, the polenta is cut into thick slices and served with the sopressa on top and its cooking fat running. The flavour is all there — sweetness of the corn, fat and spices of the sausage, and nothing else to cover or distract. It is a dish poor in substance, rich in flavour, that asks for a wine able to cut the fat from the mouth and keep company without tiring.
Treviso sopressa is found at the butcher's or in the markets of the Marca, fresh or aged. We at Vaigustando.it drink it with a Raboso Vivace I.G.T., the lively, acid red of the foothills that with polenta and fatty cured meats is a pairing that makes sense.
Why Polenta and Sopressa Are a Dish of the Marca Trevigiana
The story begins with corn: arriving from the New World in the sixteenth century, in the Veneto it found perfect ground in the low, alluvial lands of the Piave and the Marca. Polenta — yellow cornmeal cooked in water and salt — became the base dish of peasant families, the one that fed them when bread cost too much and that was eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the eighteenth century corn was so widespread that pellagra — a disease from niacin deficiency, typical of those who ate only polenta — decimated the Veneto countryside.
Sopressa, on the other hand, is the opposite: the Veneto pork sausage, fatty and spiced, that families made in January with the lesser parts of the pig. The Treviso tradition has it with black pepper, garlic, white wine or Prosecco in the mix, and an ageing that runs from a few weeks to a few months. It is a sausage to keep, to bring out in the cold months, when work in the fields stops and the evenings lengthen.
Putting the two together — the poor cereal and the fatty sausage — was the logic of Veneto subsistence cooking: what you have in the cupboard you make last, you warm the house with the fire, and you throw nothing away. The polenta soaks up the fat of the sopressa, the sopressa softens with the heat and releases flavour, and the dish that comes out is simple, substantial, and made to feed those who worked the land twelve hours a day.
Ingredients
For the polenta
- Cornmeal for polenta (bramata)300 g
- Water1.2 litres
- Fine salt1 tablespoon
For the sopressa
- Fresh or lightly aged Treviso sopressa600 g (about 4 pieces of 150 g)
- Dry white wine100 ml
- Water50 ml
Equipment Needed
- Copper pot or tall, heavy-bottomed pan
- Wooden spoon or whisk
- Wide pan with lid or oven tray
- Wide wooden board
Tip: The copper pot distributes heat evenly and the polenta does not stick; if you don't have one, use a tall, heavy-bottomed pan, but stir more often.
How to Make Polenta and Sopressa
Cook the polenta
Bring 1.2 litres of water to the boil in a copper pot or tall, heavy-bottomed pan, add the salt. When the water boils, pour in the cornmeal in a stream with one hand, stirring with the other with a whisk or wooden spoon to avoid lumps. Turn the heat down to minimum and cook the polenta stirring often for 40-50 minutes, until it comes away from the sides of the pot and has a firm, compact texture. When it is ready, pour it onto a wide wooden board, level it with a damp spoon and let it set for 10 minutes.
Chef's tip: Polenta for sopressa should be firm, not soft: it must hold up to cutting into slices. If it is too soft, cook it for a few more minutes.
Cook the sopressa
While the polenta cooks, prick the sopressa with a fork in several places to let the fat out. In a wide pan heat over medium-low, lay the sopressa in and pour over it the white wine and water. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes, turning the sopressa halfway through. The sopressa is ready when it is soft to the touch and has released its fat into the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you can cook it in the oven at 180 °C for 25-30 minutes, again with wine and water, covered with a sheet of foil.
Chef's tip: The sopressa must not burn: the heat should be gentle and the liquid is there to keep it moist. If it dries out too much, add a drop of water.
Cut the polenta
When the polenta is well set, cut it into slices about 1.5-2 cm thick with a thread of cotton (the traditional method) or with a wide, damp knife. You can serve them like that or toast them in a hot non-stick pan or on a griddle for 2-3 minutes a side, until a golden crust forms.
Serve
Arrange the polenta slices on plates, lay on top the sopressa cut into pieces or left whole, and pour over the cooking fat left in the pan. Serve very hot, accompanying with a glass of Raboso Vivace or still Raboso del Piave.
Wine Pairing for Polenta and Sopressa
Polenta and sopressa is the dish that the Marca Trevigiana has put on the table in winter from the start: cornmeal, fatty sausage, long cooking that warms the house. It is not chef's cooking, it is the cooking of necessity that became a flag. The pairing should follow the same simplicity: the wine need not make you think, it should cut the fat and keep company. Raboso was born for this — it is the red that in the foothills they drank with the soppressa before anyone thought to call it a pairing.
The Red We Recommend
Raboso Vivace I.G.T. — La Caneva dei Biasio — Sopressa is a fatty, spiced sausage, polenta soaks up and holds that fat. Raboso vivace brings exactly what is needed: a very high acidity that cuts the fat from the mouth at every sip and a light bubble that cleans the palate without attacking. The rustic tannin spreads on the fat of the sausage, the morello cherry and plum fruit talks to the spices of the soppressa, and the dry finish calls for the next bite instead of weighing down. It is the wine of the territory, served on the dish of the territory: there is nothing to invent. Serve it cool, at 12-14 °C.
Want to learn more? our guide to Raboso del Piave
The Still Alternative
Raboso del Piave D.O.C. — Italo Cescon — If you prefer a still red, Raboso del Piave DOC from Italo Cescon brings the same grape with more structure and a more marked tannin. Same cutting acidity that cuts the fat, but with more weight in the mouth. It holds up better if the sopressa is very aged or if cheese also comes to the table. The acidity does the same work as the vivace version, but here the wine keeps company all through the meal without tiring. Serve it at 16-18 °C.
Want to learn more? our guide to Raboso del Piave
Craft Beer as an Alternative
Reckless Bock Beer — doppio malto — If you prefer beer to wine, what is needed is a Dunkel Bock: the toasted malt answers the toasting of the polenta, the caramel notes pick up the fat of the sausage, and the carbonation does the same work that in Raboso the bubble does. The full body holds up the structure of the dish without stepping aside, and the restrained bitterness does not quarrel with the spices. Serve it at 8-10 °C.
Want to learn more? dark beers and double malt
What to Serve It With
Polenta and sopressa is eaten on its own, without sides. It is a complete main course, substantial, that is enough and more to close the meal.
If you want to stretch the table, you can serve first a light starter — grilled red radicchio from Treviso, sweet and sour pickles, or a board of fresh cheeses from the Grappa — with a glass of fresh col fondo. But after polenta and sopressa nothing else is needed, at most a coffee and a glass of grappa to close.
Variations
- With onion: some versions add sliced white onion in the pan along with the sopressa. The onion caramelises and sweetens the dish.
- Grilled sopressa: instead of cooking it in a pan, you can grill the sopressa over embers or on a very hot griddle. It comes out drier but has a bolder flavour.
- White polenta: in the areas of upper Veneto it is made with white polenta from biancoperla corn. It is more delicate, less sweet, and accompanies the sopressa without covering its flavour.
- With mushrooms: in autumn, some serve polenta and sopressa with a side of sautéed porcini mushrooms. It is not traditional but it holds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the sopressa be replaced?
Yes, with other fresh Veneto cured meats such as Veneto salame or luganega. Avoid cured meats that are too aged: they dry out in cooking and lose their softness.
Can the polenta be made ahead?
Yes, you can cook the polenta, pour it onto the board and let it set even a few hours ahead. Then you cut it and reheat it in a pan or in the oven when serving.
How long should the sopressa cook?
Fresh sopressa cooks in 20-25 minutes over low heat, one a bit more aged may take 30 minutes. It is ready when it is soft to the touch and has released its fat.
Can I cook the polenta without a copper pot?
Yes, you can use a tall, heavy-bottomed pan. The important thing is to stir often because it sticks more easily than with copper. There are also instant precooked polentas, but the flavour is not the same.
