The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word POLENTA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
O
L
E
N
T
A
More clues leading to the result POLENTA
- Italian dish cooked on plate
- Humourless fast leading to a meal
- Heading for administration after banker advanced dough
- Work over, provided with a dish of porridge
- Italian dish mixed on plate
- Milk needing Spanish approval for one’s porridge abroad
- Staff cheers about new dish in trattoria?
- Prison term starts alone, unfortunately – that’s porridge!
- Italian food over austere period old man hoards
- Secretary describing scented Italian dish
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Italian dish" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case italian dish = polenta.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does POLENTA mean?
POLENTA noun- Any of various types and consistencies of a starchy accompaniment to a meal made from coarse maize-meal porridge, sometimes fried or grilled.