Polenta, Gorgonzola and Savoy Cabbage Torte (Torta di Verza e Polenta)
If you take the subway from Milan’s Central Station to the last stop, you will reach Gorgonzola, the town that gave its name to the famous blue-green veined cheese that is Italy’s answer to Roquefort and Stilton. Appropriately, you reach Gorgonzola on the Green Line.
Centuries ago, the town of Gorgonzola was a fair distance from Milan and was part of a north-south grazing trail in Lombardy stretching from the Alps to the Po River. Gorgonzola was an important stopping place, and much milk was left there. The milk drawn from cows that made this journey produced a family of cheeses called stracchino. The word comes from stracco, which means tired or exhausted, which is what the cows were at this point in their trek.
The cheese is made from whole milk that is less rich than that drawn from a cow lolling in a high Alpine meadow. Some of the milk was turned into a delicious buttery soft cheese called Stracchino. But the rest of it was destined for greater glory.
Long ago, it was found that injecting a mold called Penicillium glaucum into a new cheese would preserve it for a longer time. And for eaters who could get past the notion that the mold was unsavory or unhealthy (it is neither), an exquisitely delicious cheese awaited. The town of Gorgonzola had another feature that made it ideal for producing its namesake cheese: damp caves with high humidity and constant temperature that were the ideal environment for aging the cheese for up to a year.
Other areas of northwestern Italy that had caves began to make a similar cheese and call it Gorgonzola. The most famous example came from the Piedmontese province of Novara at the Lombardy border. In recent times, the town of Gorgonzola has become part of the fast-growing Milan metropolitan area, and very little cheese is produced there. Nowadays, most of the cheese officially called Gorgonzola comes from near Novara. Though some of it is still aged in caves (a process called all’antico-in the ancient style), most of the cheese is produced in factories under computer-controlled temperatures and humidity under exacting sanitary conditions.
There are two types of Gorgonzola-dolce (sweet) and piccante (sharp). Perhaps it is strange to think of a veined, mold-laced cheese as sweet, but the dolce is. It has the buttery texture and yellow color of Stracchino with tang from the mold. This cheese spreads and melts very well. Interestingly, as the cheese is heated, the mold disappears; what is left is a sensational tangy hot cream.
According to Carlo Fiori, whose company, Luigi Guffanti, has made cheese in Arona (near Novara) since 1876, Gorgonzola dolce ages typically for 60 days and should be eaten young and fresh. It will not improve with age. The piccante, which ages for up to 90 days, is whiter and more crumbly than the dolce and has a pronounced bite. It will even improve with more aging. It is great for eating, ideally when matched with ripe pears and walnut meats, and washed down with a dessert wine such as Picolit or Torcolato from Italy or Sauternes from France. The piccante also melts well, especially when used in a pasta sauce. It also is the ideal companion for mostarda vicentina, a sort of fruit sauce from Vicenza made with quince puree, minced candied fruit and mustard seeds. You can make a home version of this using quince (if available) or pears. In the Lombard town of Cremona, people drizzle honey on Gorgonzola and eat it as a dessert.
Gorgonzola cheese comes wrapped in foil, which you should discard when serving. You might notice that Gorgonzola has a pockmarked exterior with an orange tinge. This too should be discarded, as it contains the only molds that are not necessarily pleasant to eat. Gorgonzola is widely available in good cheese shops, and certain mail-order purveyors sell very high-quality versions. Store the cheese in the coldest part of the refrigerator, wrapped tightly in plastic, until ready to serve. Let it stand, unwrapped, for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Polenta
In a small saucepan, bring 4 cups of the water to a simmer. Keep this “backup” water hot, covered, over medium-low heat. In a 3-to 4-quart cast iron, enameled or other heavy saucepan, bring the remaining 4 cups water, the bay leaves and salt to a boil over medium-high heat. When it is boiling, add the olive oil.
Place the cornmeal in a wide bowl within reach of the stove. Scoop up a small handful of the cornmeal and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or flat-nosed spatula, let it sift slowly through your fingers into the seasoned boiling water. The cornmeal should fall like rain into the water. Sift the remaining cornmeal into the water a small handful at a time, stirring constantly and paying special attention to the edges of the pot. It should take about 5 minutes to add all the cornmeal.
When all the cornmeal has been added, the mixture should be smooth and thick and begin to “perk,” meaning that large bubbles will rise to the surface. Reduce heat to medium-low-the polenta should continue to perk-and continue stirring until the mixture becomes too thick to stir easily, about 4 minutes. Add enough of the backup water-about 1 cup-to restore the mixture to a smooth stirring consistency. Stir again until the mixture is again too thick to stir easily. Continue adding the backup water and stirring like this until the cornmeal is tender, about 20 minutes from the time the cornmeal was added. As the polenta cooks, you will need to add less water each time and stir longer between additions. It is possible that you will not need to add all the water.
When the cornmeal is tender, stir the polenta without adding water until it is shiny and begins to gather around the spoon as you stir it, about 5 to 10 minutes. The polenta should be thick enough to stand a spoon in it. Remove bay leaves. Pour the polenta into a lightly buttered 2-inch-deep, 8-inch-round cake pan. Let stand until cool, then refrigerate (covered in plastic) until completely chilled, about 4 to 5 hours.
To complete the dish
In a large pot over high heat, bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, remove any wilted or yellow leaves from the cabbage and cut out the core. Cut the cabbage into 1-inch cubes. Add the cabbage to the pot and cook until both vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until it’s lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the cabbage-potato mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook, turning the vegetables occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the vegetables begin to sizzle. Mash the vegetables coarsely with the spoon as you turn them, leaving plenty of lumps. Be careful not to scorch the mixture-cook it just until the liquid is gone. Remove the garlic cloves and season again with salt and pepper, if necessary.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Invert the cooled polenta cake onto a clean cutting board. Place toothpicks evenly around the perimeter in 2 layers to guide the knife. Use one smooth stroke or you will break the polenta. With a long, thin knife, slice the cake horizontally into 3 even layers. Place the top layer upside down in the bottom of a buttered 10x4-inch springform pan. Top with half of the potato-cabbage mixture and half of the Gorgonzola, spreading the filling smoothly as if you were icing a cake so that the layers are the same width. Top the cheese with the center layer of polenta and top that with the remaining cabbage mixture and Gorgonzola. Place the bottom layer of the polenta cake upside down over the torte and press gently. Melt the butter and brush the top of the torte with the butter and sprinkle with the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Use a spatula to smooth the sides of the torte.
Bake the torte until the top layer of the cheese is lightly browned and the torte is heated through, about 40 minutes. Remove the torte from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the sides of the springform pan and cut the torte into slices to serve.
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