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1
Prepare the polenta: lightly grease an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with vegetable oil and set aside.
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2
Bring the water to a rolling boil in a large pot.
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3
Add the salt, then gradually sprinkle in the cornmeal, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
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4
Keep stirring after the last of the cornmeal has been added; the mixture will begin to thicken quite quickly.
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5
Reduce the heat to medium and cook the polenta for about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring frequently.
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6
Spoon a little of the polenta onto a plate and taste it: when it is no longer crunchy and granular, its done.
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7
Scrape the polenta into the loaf pan, flattening the top and pressing the mass into a rough rectangle, ending halfway to two-thirds down the length of the pan.
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8
This sounds a little confusing, but you should now have a 2-inch-thick rectangle of polenta pressed into the loaf pan.
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9
It will be very stiff and have no trouble staying put.
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10
Cool the polenta to room temperature, then press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days.
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11
No more than 2 or 3 hours before you plan to serve the dessert, remove the loaf pan from the refrigerator and unmould the polenta.
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12
With a long, thinbladed knife, slice the loaf into 1/4-inch thick slices and cut each of these in half.
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13
You should end up with about 24 2-inch squares, 1/4-inch thick.
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14
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large frying pan (nonstick is fine) over medium heat.
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15
When the foam subsides, add half of the polenta slices and fry about 4 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp on both sides.
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16
Carefully transfer the slices to a platter lined with paper towels and sprinkle the slices with half of the sugar.
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17
Repeat with the remaining butter, oil, polenta and sugar.
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18
Cool the sugared polenta slices to room temperature.
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19
To assemble the crostini, spoon the mascarpone into a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip (about 1/2 inch or so).
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20
Pipe a generous amount of mascarpone on each polenta square and arrange two or three raspberries on the cheese.
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21
Press some pistachio pieces around the berries into the cheese and drizzle the crostini with a little of the honey (a honey dripper or even a teaspoon dipped into the jar then waved over the squares works really welldont even bother measuring the honey!).
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22
The finished crostini should be eaten as soon as possible, but can be kept covered at room temperature for a few hours.
