Bacala in Sauce with Polenta

Bacala is a well-known Istrian spread made from polenta, which you either love or hate, primarily due to its strong, distinctive fishy aroma. According to an old recipe from Istrian nuns, we prepare it in a sauce and serve it with polenta. The dish is very simple and perhaps more suitable for dinner than for lunch.

Details

  • Preparation Time: 10 minutes
  • Cooking Time: 10 minutes
  • Difficulty: 1
  • Spiciness: 0
  • Number of Servings: 4

Ingredients

Polenta

  • 1 l Water

  • 1 teaspoon Salt, table

  • 200 g Polenta

  • 1 spoon Butter, unsalted

  • 2 spoons Cheese, Parmesan, grated

Sauce

  • pieces Oil, olive

  • pieces Garlic, fresh

  • 200 g Fish, pollen, dried and salted

  • 500 ml Milk, whole milk

  • pieces Salt, table

Steps

  1. Pour olive oil into a pot and heat it. Add peeled garlic and sauté it slowly for about 3 minutes, just until it changes color and becomes fragrant. In another pot, heat the milk until it boils.

  2. Remove the pot with garlic from the heat, add the bacala spread, and slowly pour in the hot milk. Stir continuously until the ingredients combine into a creamy sauce.

  3. Return the pot to the heat, and when the sauce boils, season it with salt and pepper to taste, then remove it from the heat.

  4. Serve the bacala sauce with polenta. To prepare the polenta, slowly pour instant polenta into boiling salted water to which you have added a tablespoon of butter, and stir continuously until the polenta begins to thicken. Add grated Parmesan, mix well, and pour it into a baking dish that has been rinsed with water (to make it easier to remove the polenta later). Let the polenta cool.

  5. Once cooled, cut the polenta into pieces of your desired size. Before serving, you can also lightly fry it in a pan to give it a golden crust.

Nutrition Information (Per 100g)

  • Calories: 126.36 kcal
  • Fat: 4.48 g
    • Saturated Fat: 1.05 g
  • Carbohydrates: 10.73 g
    • Sugars: 0 g
  • Protein: 9.94 g
  • Fiber: 0.92 g