This Traditional Romanian Polenta with Feta Cheese, Bacon and Sausage known as “Mamaliga cu Branza in Paturi” is a dish I’ve grown up with and am very fond of. It’s hearty, delicious and satisfying.
You can’t get anymore traditional than this when it comes to Romanian cuisine. I learned to make this from my mother who learned from my grandma and so on. Now I used bacon and some smoked sausage in this polenta, but you can keep it meatless and you’ve got yourself a vegetarian meal. In Romania this dish is sometimes known as peasant food and the polenta is often cooked in large copper pots or iron skillets.
What is Polenta?
Polenta is a traditional European dish, used for its versatility to combine various ingredients as a side dish or even a full on meal.
Polenta is usually made with water and cornmeal. It’s very simple to make a basic Polenta. In Romanian cuisine, “mamaliga” is enjoyed as a bread substitute most of the time, but as I mentioned above there are many ways in which it can be eaten.
Italians on the other hand make it a bit differently, instead of water they cook it with milk or cream and they add Parmesan to it. I’m using in this recipe a basic Polenta to have a nice, easy to make base for this traditional Romanian dish.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Cornmeal: I like to use the extra fine cornmeal to get a smooth texture in the polenta.
- Meat: I use here a mix of bacon strips and smoked sausage to get that added rustic flavor to the whole dish.
- Cheese: Feta cheese is definitely my favorite to use for both it’s consistency and the salty flavor it offers to the whole polenta dish.
How To Make Romanian Polenta
- Boil the water with salt. Once water is boiling, reduce heat to low and add the cornmeal, while stirring constantly. Keep stirring, you will notice the polenta will thicken.
- Cook the polenta for about 20 to 30 min, stirring occasionally.
- Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
- In a 9 x 13 in baking dish, spread half of the polenta using some of the remaining bacon fat. Sprinkle with half of the feta cheese. Add all the sausage and half of the bacon.
- Repeat with another layer using the remaining polenta. Add the remaining cheese and top off with the remaining bacon.
- Bake for about 10 min.
- Serve warm.
FAQ’s and Expert Tips
FAQ’s
You may have just added too much liquid for the amount of grains you had. I wouldn’t recommend adding more grains after the fact. Your best bet would have been to put the grits/polenta on low heat until it thickened up.
While your best bet is feta cheese, you can definitely experiment with other types of cheeses such as cream cheese and grated parmesan.
Yes, you can definitely keep your polenta meatless.
Storage
Store leftover polenta in an airtight container or wrapped in aluminum foil or plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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Traditional Romanian Polenta with Feta Cheese and Bacon
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon fried and chopped
- 8 ounce smoked sausage sliced and fried
- 2 cups cornmeal
- 8 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups feta cheese shredded or crumbled
Instructions
- Boil the water with salt. Once water is boiling, reduce heat to low and add the cornmeal, while stirring constantly. Keep stirring, you will notice the polenta will thicken.
- Cook the polenta for about 20 to 30 min, stirring occasionally.
- Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
- In a 9 x 13 in baking dish, spread half of the polenta using some of the remaining bacon fat. Sprinkle with half of the feta cheese. Add all the sausage and half of the bacon.
- Repeat with another layer using the remaining polenta. Add the remaining cheese and top off with the remaining bacon.
- Bake for about 10 min.
- Serve warm.
Jo, you must be “ardeleanca”! This is the recipe that is typical for that region. My mom is born and raised in Tirgu Mures, I grew up there. And this is my husband’s “birthday cake”! Oh, and he is american… What is that saying? Dragostea trece prin stomac (love goes through the stomach – how romantic!) ?
My mom always uses that saying. Yep, I was born in Cluj and my dad is from there. My mom’s been making this for as long as I can remember. 🙂
how come it show the sausage on top but the instruction has the cheese and bacon on top?
Hi Michael,
You can add the sausage and bacon either as a topping or in between the layers. Depends on the preference. Let us know how it turns out for you!
If you add an egg (sunny side up ? Ou ochi) and the bacon and cheese it is often called “bulz” and it was a typical meal of shepherds. Try and enjoy!
Best polenta recipe!
I tried this, it was really good!
What kind of sausage did you use? In Romania they are using for this recipe homemade sausages but here, in Toronto, I cannot find any or at least similar to those.
I used a smoked dry sausage, my mom buys it from a Polish store, but any smoked sausage would work.
Salut! Nu am stiut ca este romanca!! Cand am fost o fata mica tati imi va face acest lucru și îl numesc “mamaliga Patru stele”. Eu vorbesc mai bine decate romana scruI ca am fost noscut in america, imi pare ran daca est greu DE citit. Now I am going to go follow you on pinterest!
Multumesc! Nu am auzit niciodata ca ii spunde mamalinga patru stele. Sper sa incerci sa o faci, foarte buna. 🙂
Vaaaai, ce pofta mi-e. Eu mai adaug la reteta asta si putina smantana si un strat de ciupercute sotate. Si daca vreau sa fie si mai si, deasupra fac 2 gropite si sparg doua oua. Yummmmm
Lol, si eu mai adaug din cand in cand smantana, dar niciodata nu m-am gandit la ciupercute. 🙂 Must try!
Eu fac asta dar eu fierb ouale moi si mai fac un mujdei de usturoi oh ce minune…copii mei sint nascuti in US dar asta e o mincare pe care nu o refuza,
well… ie nu refuza mamaliga niciodata…
Nici eu, foarte buna! 🙂
In Areal “nu se poate” (citez pe mama) supa/ciorba de salata fara mamaliga-n straturi. Am gresit sa fac numa’ supa…si asa mi-a zis “draga mea, asta sa nu mai faci niciodata, ca nu sepoate!”.
Mincaruri bune, amintiri frumoase si sarbatori in liniste in tot anul!