Prep time 5 min. Cook time 15 min
This recipe is a full on rustic Italian blast of herbs, garlic and mushrooms on fluffy grilled polenta. Perfect as a side dish or appetizer.
My great aunt was married to a Neapolitan. Not that Naples has any special claim to polenta but he was rather fond of it and growing up in the multi-cultured Greek/Italian environment of my grand mother’s downtown Cairo apartment I too acquired a fondness for it.
Polenta is simply good old fashioned yellow cornmeal and when made well, it is creamy and fluffy and like pasta is adaptable to absorbing any flavor. It also very versatile. It can be cooked and kept creamy as a side dish or as a bed for lamb or pork chops. It can also be cooled down, cut up in small portions, grilled and covered with a variety of toppings and served as a starter or main course. The trouble is that it does take about 15-20minutes to make from scratch, needing frequent stirring. Then you need time for it cool in the fridge before you can cut it and grill it.
In the US, a short cut involves a trip to Trader Joe’s or other quality stores or a click to Amazon who sell a rather good ready-made polenta. It usually comes in a long plastic pack that you can slice and grill right away.
You can improvise to your hearts content with different toppings and sauces. This recipe is one of my favorites that uses a blend of mushrooms and fresh herbs laced with a good dose of garlic.
For appetizer portions, half the quantities below.
Herb Garlic Mushrooms On Grilled Polenta
by
Derek Farwagi
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pack of ready made tube shaped polenta. Available in most supermarkets).
- 4 cups Coarsely chopped mix of fresh mushrooms - porcini, cremini,button.
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 3 tbsp Coarsely chopped mixed herbs ( rosemary, lemon thyme, oregano and sage all work)
- 3 cloves Coarsely chopped garlic
- 1 cup White wine
- 2 tbsp Unsalted butter
- Salt and cracked black pepper
- Grated paremsan cheese
Instructions
- Cut the polenta in 1/2″ thick slices, grill for 3 minutes on each side on a grill pan or under a broiler and set aside on a platter.
- Coarsely chop the mushrooms and sauté them in olive oil on a medium fire for a couple of minutes.
- Add the garlic and sauté for another minute or so.
- Add the herb mix and sauté for a further minute.
- Deglaze the mixture with a cup of white wine and reduce liquid to half.
- Blend in 2 tbsp unsalted butter and remove from fire.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Top each polenta slice with mushrooms and serve with a little grated parmesan cheese.
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