Wild Mushroom Polenta



This is another recipe I found in my buddy Chris's Cooking Light Slow Cooker book. I was wanting to make something to go along with our frittata and thought this mushroom polenta looked quite tasty. We'd never cooked with polenta before, and what do you know, it's just yellow corn meal! We had lots of that leftover from some cornbread, so I decided to try it out. It was very tasty, but took longer than the time it stated. After 3 hours, it was still a bit soupy, so I cranked the heat up to high for another 35 minutes. I'd say just watch it and if you're in a time crunch, you could probably cook it on high for about 1.5-2 hours. We slightly modified the recipe (ours is below). Oh, and it is supposed to serve 6, but we ate nearly all of it between the 2 of us. Maybe we eat more than the average Joe, but I would still recommend doubling it if you're serving more than two. I'd say the recipe below is more like 3 servings. We found the dried mushrooms in along with the regular mushrooms in the produce section at Harris Teeter - I'm not sure if they are normally hard to find or not.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • cooking spray
  • 3 cups water
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • Fresh (or dried) rosemary, to garnish

Directions

  1. Heat water in microwave (or stove) until bowling. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray.
  2. Put cornmeal and butter into slow cooker. Gradually add the water, stirring constantly with a whisk until well blended.
  3. Stir in cheese, mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper.
  4. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours or until thick (plus 35 minutes on high for us).
  5. Garnish with rosemary and serve.

16 comments:

3 hungry tummies said...

Perfect for colder days ahead! nice!

Christo Gonzales said...

I made some of this just the other day - what great flavors!

Kathleen said...

This sounds delicious and you don't have to stir your arm off! Brilliant!!!

grace said...

i had some AMAZING mushroom grits at bobby flay's mesa grill in nyc, and not much has come close to matching them. this has potential. :)

Joanne said...

I have been on such a polenta kick lately...I've been enjoying it with every meal. It's great topped with some sausage!

Chef E said...

Time to rotate the polenta into our diets! This look great too, love the garnish!

Conor @ HoldtheBeef said...

I love making polenta with gorgonzola, but I cheat and use the instant/stovetop method which is much quicker! I'll have to try the old slow way and compare them.

Sounds like a great recipe, I can imagine how good the mushrooms would be with this!

Ivy said...

It's hard to estimate the portions depending on how much each one eats. I watched a video a while ago and the portion served was by 1/4 of what I serve as a portion. Great recipe.

Barbara said...

We love polenta around here- there are so many ways to serve it! Wild mushrooms is definitely one of the best additions.

Kerstin said...

3 hours how - it's good to know that you have to plan ahead with it! Looks delicious!

Jackie at PhamFatale.com said...

Love your new design! I love polenta; I usually boiled it and firm in the refrigerator, then grill the block as I need it. Love the grit version. Is it thyme or rosemary as a garnish. Does it have a pleasant mouthful as is?

Hornsfan said...

Ooooh this looks delicious, I've been craving polenta lately and will have to give this a try!

Unknown said...

i haven't tried making my own polenta, but in a slow cooker? i'm definitely giving this a try!!

Olga @ MangoTomato said...

Completely agree with you: polenta and mushrooms are a great combo. I also like thyme with this.

Sasha said...

Mmm, this mushroom polenta looks delicious. Porcinis, polenta and rosemary are a great combo : )

tasteofbeirut said...

Yum! I love polenta in any shape or flavor and with mushrooms yumm!

Post a Comment

previous next previous