Mom's Easy Oven Polenta

This is the method for making polenta that my mom swears by. :) I asked her where she got the recipe, and she thinks it was from the Oregonian newspaper.

• Ready In: 55 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1  quart water
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt, to taste
• 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper
• 1  cup  coarse-ground uncooked polenta
• 2  tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a 1 to 1-1/2 quart baking pan, stir together the water, salt, pepper and polenta.
3. Add the pieces of butter.
4. Place the container, uncovered, in the center of the top rack of the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
5. Open the oven, pull out the rack and stir the polenta (this is also the time to add any additional ingredients such as cheese).
6. Close the oven and bake the polenta for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
8. At this point you can either prepare it for frying or serve immediately; if you want to fry it, then you should form it in a pan and refrigerate for several hours.
9. It's great straight out of the oven with marinara sauce on it.
10. Good additions are Monterey Jack cheese, parmesan, jalapenos, or even pine nuts.