Ingredients
Bring two litres of water to boil, adding salt and oil. Sprinkle in the polenta flour and cook it, stirring slowly, for around an hour. Turn the cooked polenta out onto a wooden chopping board and cut it into slices. Take a deep terracotta pot that isn’t too wide and rub butter along the inside, then place a layer of the polenta slices inside. Dust with grated nostrale cheese and a few small pieces of toma cheese and gorgonzola. Continue arranging alternate layers of polenta and cheese until all the ingredients have been used up. Lay slices of gorgonzola and flakes of butter on the top layer. Cover with milk, add salt to taste and bake in a 160°C oven for an hour.
The need to eat on site when a community worked together in high mountain areas – all the men were busy cutting hay in summer, transporting it down the valley on sleds in the winter – demanded dishes that could remain warm and intact over time. Mitonà polenta (pronounced "mitunà", which means gently boiled over a low heat) was the perfect choice, flavoured with excellent cheeses that provided plenty of energy for such arduous tasks. It was also a perfect dinner choice, as it was always ready to eat when one finally got home