My wife does a terrific job cooking polenta. Normally, we save these dishes for autumn and winter, but sometimes she makes it in the summer, when we are blessed with marvelous vegetables from nearby farms. In this case, she chose local eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, celery, and onions. These were sautéed slowly with olive oil until the mixture was rich and flavorful.

She cooks the polenta in water, slowly stirring until the appropriate texture is achieved, which takes about 1/2 hour. The cornmeal grains are plated in a pasta bowl, covered with the vegetables and dusted with Parmigiano cheese, or in my case, grated Pecorino.

It was beautifully paired with a red wine from the Lake Garda region, Pasini San Giovanni Frontesca. The grape was a little known variety — Gropello. Delightful.

To top off this fine dinner, she baked a Swedish apple dessert, with not too much sugar and plenty of walnuts. I came back for seconds of polenta and the dessert.