Embark on a culinary journey to savor the delightful flavors of polenta, a versatile dish that takes center stage in this collection of delectable recipes. Polenta, a porridge-like dish made from cornmeal, transforms into a creamy canvas for a symphony of flavors. Discover the classic Polenta with Feta and Spinach, a harmonious blend of textures and tastes. Explore the hearty Polenta with Mushrooms and Sausage, a savory delight that combines earthy mushrooms and succulent sausage. Indulge in the creamy Polenta with Roasted Vegetables, a vibrant medley of roasted vegetables nestled in a bed of creamy polenta. Each recipe offers a unique culinary experience, ensuring that every bite is a journey of taste and texture.
Let's cook with our recipes!
POLENTA WITH MUSHROOMS AND SPINACH
As a vegetarian, I love coming up with new dishes that non-vegetarians will enjoy (and not miss the meat). This polenta with mushrooms and spinach recipe is so good, everyone always asks for the recipe. -Marcy Delpome, Stanhope, New Jersey
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Appetizers
Time 1h15m
Yield 12 servings.
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 425°. Brush both sides of polenta slices with 1 tablespoon oil; place on a 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake 20-25 minutes on each side or until crisp., Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and shallot; cook and stir 12-14 minutes or until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms start to brown. Add sherry; cook, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan., In a small bowl, mix flour, salt and pepper; stir in broth until smooth. Stir into pan. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Add spinach; cook and stir over medium-low heat until slightly wilted, about 2 minutes., Arrange polenta on a platter; top with mushroom mixture.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 97 calories, Fat 4g fat (1g saturated fat), Cholesterol 0 cholesterol, Sodium 295mg sodium, Carbohydrate 12g carbohydrate (2g sugars, Fiber 1g fiber), Protein 2g protein.
CREAMY POLENTA WITH SPINACH
Provided by Giada De Laurentiis
Categories side-dish
Time 30m
Yield 6 to 8 servings
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- In a Dutch oven, bring the chicken broth, oil, garlic and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and whisk in the polenta. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan, mascarpone, pecorino and butter. Cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Fold in the spinach and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes longer. Add 1/4 cup water if the mixture gets too thick.
- Pour the polenta into a large bowl and serve with grated Parmesan over the top.
POLENTA WITH FETA AND SPINACH
I really love this combination and it is SUPER easy! My measurements are estimates: I pulled a 'soft polenta' recipe off of epicurious to calculate the water-to-dry polenta ratio, because I think a softer polenta is better in this application. Cheers.
Provided by KWB5015
Categories Spinach
Time 15m
Yield 4 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 7
Steps:
- Prepare the polenta by boiling the water with the salt and butter or olive oil then adding the polenta in a steady stream while stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Continue cooking and stirring for about 5 minutes (longer if you don't have the quick-cooking variety).
- Spoon into shallow bowls and crumble feta cheese over the top and sprinkle with pepper.
- Bring the spinach to the table in a separate bowl. Take as much spinach as you want/as will fit on top of your polenta and EAT getting a little polenta, cheese and spinach in each bite.
- You can substitute chicken stock or vegetable stock for the water for more flavor but scale back the salt if you do. You can also add onion powder to the polenta or chopped green onion to the spinach. It is pretty versatile.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 181.2, Fat 16.7, SaturatedFat 11.1, Cholesterol 56.3, Sodium 1085, Carbohydrate 2.5, Fiber 0.6, Sugar 1.6, Protein 6.1
PUMPKIN GRATIN POLENTA WITH SPINACH MUSHROOMS AND FETA
This is good...I know it seems like a lot to do but you will be happy you did. Try to get good polenta, not the fast cook stuff. It makes a difference.
Provided by TishT
Categories Spinach
Time 1h30m
Yield 6-8 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 17
Steps:
- Bake the butternut pumpkin. If you're doing this ahead of time, just cut it into a few pieces, scoop out the seeds, and place on a baking tray and bake at moderate heat for an hour or so until soft, then remove the flesh from the skin. If you're in a hurry, skin and seed the pumpkin then cut into smallish cubes. Toss with a bit of olive oil, then bake at 350F for about 20-30 minutes until soft. Puree it with a potato masher or implement of choice.
- Stir the polenta into the cold water in an ample pot, add the vegetable stock, and bring it to a simmer, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the polenta is thick and tender, about half an hour. Remove from the heat, then stir in the pureed pumpkin and the butter, and add a little salt and pepper. Remember that you will be layering it with salty feta, so use a light hand. Pour the polenta onto a large baking sheet and smooth it into a 1/2 inch layer. Allow it to stiffen (30 minutes or more), then cut into rectangles about 2x3 inches in size.
- Meanwhile, peel, halve and slice the red onions. Warm the oil in a large non-stick pan over a low-moderate heat. Add the onions and a dash of salt, and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then, then remove the lid and cook another 15 minutes or more. When the onions are very soft, add the balsamic vinegar to taste and cook another 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and set aside.
- Wipe and slice the mushrooms. Heat the butter or oil and cook the mushrooms until they're a lovely dark brown. Season with Salt and pepper and set aside.
- Remove tough stems from the spinach and wash the leaves well, then chop roughly. In a large saucepan, heat a bit of oil and add the peeled and chopped garlic. Saute for a minute or two, then add the spinach. Put the lid on the pan, and cook for several minutes, turning the leaves with tongs every couple of minutes to stop them sticking. When the leaves are wilted and tender, remove them from the heat and tip them out into a large colander to drain any liquid.
- In a bowl, mix together the spinach, mushrooms, onions and most of the crumbled feta. Lightly oil a large gratin or lasagne dish. Spoon a little of the vegetable mixture into one end of the dish, then start overlapping layers of the polenta slices with layers of the vegetable mixture, leaving some of the filling showing between layers of polenta. You'll have to judge how upright to layer the slices based on the size of your dish. Once you have used up all the filling and polenta, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes. It should be bubbling hot, and the cheese on top will be golden brown in spots. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then serve.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 298.5, Fat 22.1, SaturatedFat 11.9, Cholesterol 59.8, Sodium 712.7, Carbohydrate 15.4, Fiber 4.5, Sugar 6.2, Protein 13.9
POLENTA WITH SPINACH
Provided by James Beard
Categories Side Bake High Fiber Lemon Cornmeal Spinach Winter House & Garden
Yield Serves 6
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Cut the frozen blocks of spinach into small pieces and place in a heavy skillet without water. Cover the pan and heat the spinach just until it is thoroughly thawed. Drain and chop very fine. Blend the chopped spinach with the garlic, lemon juice, salt and olive oil. Oil an oval or square baking dish and put the spinach in the bottom. Top with polenta, dot with butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake in a 375°F. oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the polenta is delicately brown. Serve as an accompaniment to beef, veal or pork dishes.
POLENTA AL FORNO WITH SPINACH, RICOTTA AND FONTINA
Provided by David Tanis
Categories dinner, weekday, main course
Time 1h30m
Yield 6 to 8 servings
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Blanch spinach briefly in a large pot of boiling water, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and cool. Squeeze all excess moisture from spinach and roughly chop.
- In a large bowl, combine chopped spinach and ricotta. Season with salt and pepper, then add cayenne, lemon zest, half the Parmesan and all but 2 tablespoons of the fontina and stir well.
- Butter a 9- by 12-inch casserole dish. Ladle in half of the warm, soft polenta and spread with a spatula to make a thin layer. Spoon spinach mixture evenly over it. Top with remaining soft polenta and spread to smooth the surface. (May be made ahead up to this point, then covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking.)
- Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and fontina. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
POLENTA LASAGNA WITH FETA AND KALE
This is one of my favorite recipes, full of Mediterranean flavor and high in calcium. It uses pecorino romano, a salty parmesan-like hard cheese made of sheep's milk. I used a goat's milk feta but you can use any type of feta you can find. It calls for lacinato kale (a/k/a dinosaur kale) which is preferable if you can find it - If not, use regular curly-leaf kale. This recipe calls for a tube of pre-made, ready-to-slice polenta which you can find online or at most health food or gourmet food stores and some mainstream groceries. I use the traditional polenta (unflavored) from Food Merchants. If you have the time, you can make polenta from scratch, spread it on a baking sheet in a 1/4" layer while it's still hot, refrigerate it until firm, and use a juice glass to cut small disks out of the polenta. Enjoy!
Provided by Whats Cooking
Categories One Dish Meal
Time 45m
Yield 6 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium-high flame. Sauté onions and rosemary until the onions begin to brown. Add garlic and carrots. Sauté until garlic fragrances the oil, about 2 minutes. Add kale and sauté until tender, then remove pan from heat.
- Grease the bottom and sides of a 8x8-inch baking dish. Cut polenta into slices no thicker than 1/4 inch. Line the bottom of the pan with 1/2 of the polenta slices, overlapping them slightly to cover the whole bottom of the pan.
- Pour 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce over the polenta and spread it evenly. Distribute mashed feta cheese over the marinara sauce. Scatter olives over the feta, then top with an even layer of the kale mixture. Place the remaining polenta slices in a layer, overlapping slightly. Spread remaining 1/2 cup of marinara sauce. Sprinkle shredded pecorino evenly across the top.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the top layer of cheese is beginning to brown around the edges. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving (use a spatula).
Nutrition Facts : Calories 193.7, Fat 13.2, SaturatedFat 5.7, Cholesterol 28.7, Sodium 586.6, Carbohydrate 13.4, Fiber 2.4, Sugar 5.9, Protein 6.7
HERBY POLENTA WITH CORN, EGGS AND FETA
Cooking polenta in the oven has turned out to be quite a game-changer for me, and completely contradicts the belief that polenta needs to consistently be attended to. Do try to find coarse cornmeal here rather than the quick-cooking kind, as that style of polenta simply won't yield the same smooth and creamy result that you're looking for. You can also swap out the chicken stock for vegetable stock or water if you're looking for a vegetarian alternative. I like to serve this as a midday brunch with a zesty green salad, as it's hearty enough to keep you going until dinner.
Provided by Yotam Ottolenghi
Categories casseroles, grains and rice, main course
Time 1h15m
Yield 4 to 6 servings
Number Of Ingredients 17
Steps:
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/200 degrees Celsius.
- Add the corn to a food processor and pulse once or twice, just until roughly chopped. Transfer corn to a large bowl and add the spinach, cornmeal, Parmesan, scallions, 1/4 cup cilantro, parsley, dill, garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and a good grind of pepper; stir to combine. Transfer this mixture to a large, deep, oven-proof skillet, then add the milk, stock and butter, stirring gently to mix through. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and give everything a good whisk.
- Return to the oven and bake until the cornmeal is cooked through and the mixture has thickened, about 20 minutes. Give the polenta another good whisk - it should be quite smooth and not completely set - then stir in half the feta. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 degrees Celsius.
- Use a dinner spoon to make 8 shallow wells in the polenta. Crack an egg into each well and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the remaining feta all over, and bake until the egg whites are cooked and the yolks are still runny, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the reserved scallions and cilantro in a bowl with the oil. Spoon this mixture all over the polenta and eggs and sprinkle with the red-pepper flakes. Serve directly from the pan.
BAKED POLENTA WITH SPINACH & GOAT'S CHEESE
This Italian vegetarian recipe is smart enough for a dinner party, but has just six ingredients
Provided by Good Food team
Categories Dinner, Main course
Time 40m
Number Of Ingredients 6
Steps:
- Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and boil the kettle. In a bowl, mix the garlic and tomatoes with seasoning, then pour into a large baking dish. Place the spinach in a large colander and pour boiling water over until wilted. Rinse in cold water and squeeze out all the excess water you can with your hands. Roughly chop, season, and scatter on top of the tomatoes.
- Slice the polenta, then overlap on top of the spinach. Drizzle with the oil and bake in the oven for 10-15 mins. Scatter over the cheese and return to the oven for 5 mins more, or until the cheese is golden and bubbling.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 240 calories, Fat 10 grams fat, SaturatedFat 5 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 26 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 7 grams sugar, Fiber 6 grams fiber, Protein 12 grams protein, Sodium 1.6 milligram of sodium
Tips:
- Use Fresh Ingredients: For optimal flavor and texture, use fresh, high-quality ingredients whenever possible.
- Choose the Right Grits: Opt for medium or coarse-ground grits for a polenta with a slightly grainy texture. Fine-ground grits will produce a smoother texture.
- Cook the Polenta Slowly: Cooking the polenta slowly over low heat allows the grits to absorb the liquid gradually, resulting in a creamy and tender texture.
- Stir Frequently: Stirring the polenta frequently prevents lumps from forming and ensures even cooking.
- Adjust the Liquid Ratio: If you prefer a thicker or thinner polenta, adjust the liquid ratio accordingly. For a thicker polenta, reduce the amount of liquid; for a thinner polenta, increase the liquid.
- Season to Taste: Don't forget to season the polenta with salt, pepper, and other herbs and spices to taste.
- Add Vegetables: To make a more hearty and flavorful polenta dish, add sautéed vegetables such as spinach, mushrooms, or bell peppers.
- Top with Cheese: Baked feta cheese and goat cheese are both great options for topping the polenta. Feta cheese adds a tangy, salty flavor, while goat cheese provides a creamy, mild flavor.
Conclusion:
Polenta is a versatile and delicious dish that can be enjoyed as a main course or a side dish. With its creamy texture and mild flavor, it pairs well with a variety of toppings and sauces. Whether you prefer it simple or dressed up with vegetables, cheese, or meat, polenta is a satisfying and flavorful meal. So next time you're looking for a new and exciting dish to try, give polenta a shot. It's sure to become a new favorite in your kitchen.
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