Basic Creamy Polenta with Melted Peppers and Mushrooms

Basic Creamy Polenta with Melted Peppers and Mushrooms
Basic Creamy Polenta with Melted Peppers and Mushrooms | https://saltandwind.com This dish takes me back to Berkeley's Guerrilla Cafe. I was having a meeting there where I was taking the first step of production of my cookbook and I ...
Skill
Beginner
Course
Dinner, Lunch, Main
Cuisine
American, Italian
Ingredients
12
Hands-On Time
30 minutes
Total Time
40 minutes
Yield
-
Servings
4
Diet
Gluten-Free, Vegetarian
Season
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
Basic Creamy Polenta with Melted Peppers and Mushrooms | https://saltandwind.com
Skill
Beginner
Course
Dinner, Lunch, Main
Cuisine
American, Italian
Ingredients
12
Hands-On Time
30 minutes
Total Time
40 minutes
Yield
-
Servings
4
Diet
Gluten-Free, Vegetarian
Basic Creamy Polenta with Melted Peppers and Mushrooms | https://saltandwind.com

This dish takes me back to Berkeley's Guerrilla Cafe. I was having a meeting there where I was taking the first step of production of my cookbook and I was so excited that I remember every moment.

I had brunch with my now best friend, I pulled out my mood board (pre-Pinterest mind you), and asked her to work as the food stylist on the book. You'd think I was asking her to be my Maid of Honor I was so nervous but that's how pumped I was to write that book.  

A version of that dish has stayed with me through the years, filling in for any meal and topped with whatever I had on hand. In the fall and winter, I’ll top it with braised meats, roasted squash or swirl in wilted greens and gorgonzola; then, come spring, perhaps some fiery harissa roast asparagus and a few crumbles of fresh goat cheese.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups almond milk or whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup stoneground polenta (not instant)
  • 1/4 cup Mascarpone cheese

    plus more for garnish (optional)

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound cremini mushrooms

    quartered

  • 1 medium yellow onion

    quartered and thinly sliced

  • 2 medium yellow, red, or orange bell peppers

    cored and thinly sliced

  • baby spinach

    optional

  • fresh chives

    for garnish

  • Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

    for garnish

Follow Salt & Wind

Instructions

To Make The Polenta: Combine milk, 3 cups of water, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. When it simmers, slowly pour in the polenta and whisk to combine. Partially cover with a lid, reduce heat to low, and cook, whisking vigorously (get all the corners of the pan!) every 5 minutes, until polenta is no longer gritty and looks like creamy oatmeal or loose applesauce, about 30 minutes total

Turn off the heat and let the polenta sit off to the side, covered, for anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the peppers and mushrooms.

To Make The Sauteed Peppers And Mushrooms:  Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt, some freshly ground black pepper, and stir to coat in the oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and all the liquid is cooked off, about 8 minutes. Remove to a bowl and return the pan to the stove.

Add remaining oil and the onions and stir to coat in the oil. Cook until translucent and soft, about 3  minutes. Stir in the bell peppers, add a big pinch of salt, some freshly ground black pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 15 minutes. Add 1/3 cup of water, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until very soft, about 5 minutes more. Add the mushrooms back to the pepper mixture, stir to coat, cover, turn off heat, and set aside until ready to use.

Make The Egg: If you’re craving an egg, now would be the time to prepare it. (I prefer mine poached or friend for polenta but do what you please.) Just before serving, whisk the cheese into the warm polenta. 

To Serve The Polenta: After the polenta has rested, whisk it to loosen it up. Stir in the mascarpone and cover until ready to use. Taste the polenta and check out the consistency. If you like it looser (as I do), whisk in another 1/4 cup of water as needed to loosen the polenta to the consistency of oatmeal.

Divide polenta evenly among four bowls. If using the greens, stir them into the mushrooms mixture until just wilted then spoon over the polenta. Top each bowl with a fried egg, a sprinkling of some chives, and, if desired, a sprinkle of Parmigiano-Reggiano and a dollop of mascarpone.

Footnotes

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Aida Mollenkamp

Aida Mollenkamp

Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Salt & Wind

Aida is a food and travel expert, author, chef, Food Network personality, founder of the travel services company, Salt & Wind Travel, and partner at the creative agency and educational platform, Border Free Media. She has made her career in food travel media and hospitality and has crisscrossed the globe to search out the best food destinations.

After graduating from the Cornell Hotel School and Le Cordon Bleu Paris, she joined CHOW Magazine where she ran the test kitchen and worked as Food Editor. Aida then moved to television, hosting the Food Network show, Ask Aida, FoodCrafters on the Cooking Channel, In The Pantry on Yahoo!, and the TasteMade series, Off Menu. Her cookbook, Keys To The Kitchen, is a go-to for home cooks who want to become more adventurous cooks and the Travel Guides For Food Lovers series she has co-authored are beloved among food travelers.

Through Border Free Media, Aida shares the lessons she’s learned as an entrepreneur with other creative businesses. From teaching our Cooking Club classes to cohosting our group trips, in all that she does Aida aims to help discerning travelers taste the world.

https://saltandwind.com/recipes/282-creamy-classic-polenta-recipe

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