This excellent recipe dates back to the 1980s when brilliant chef Greg Couillard served it at his restaurant Stelle on Queen West in downtown Toronto. It goes with tomato pasta sauce for a vegetarian dish. It also goes with stew. It’s simply delicious. You should only use fine cornmeal sometimes labelled as polenta. To serve leftovers, reheat in an ovenproof dish in 350F oven about 20 minutes. You can cut it in slices when cold, brush it with oil and grill under the broiler or barbecue it.

4 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
½ cup corn kernels, fresh, frozen and thawed or canned and drained
¼ cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp butter, softened

Bring water and salt to boil in heavy saucepan. Gradually add cornmeal, whisking constantly. When mixture starts to thicken, reduce heat to low. Cook 20 to 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture resembles a cooked pudding. Stir in corn, cheese, basil and butter. Serve at once.

Makes 6 to 8 side dish servings.