I forget about making vegetarian (well, almost vegetarian) meals on any routine basis. I do a sort of a rotation of chicken, pork, some beef, a little bit of fish, and then it’s back to chicken, pork, etc. So when Phillis Carey made this dish at a recent cooking class, it just reminded me that I need to do this kind of meal more often.
A little backtracking . . . after about 9 months of diagnosing, chemo, healing then radiation for my friend Cherrie’s breast cancer, she’s just beginning to come out of the fatigue caused by the radiation (and the chemo too). Her oncologist told her to expect fairly extreme fatigue for 6 weeks at least after her last radiation treatment. She’s at 4 weeks now and she says she’s maybe feeling a glimmer of more energy. Not much, but even a little bit is good. So she suggested we go to a cooking class (a night class) which could be problematical for her since she often falls asleep at about 7-8pm. Sure enough, she started to nod off a couple of times, she told me. But not before we had 4 really tasty dishes at the class.
Phillis has a vegan son, and she’s actually teaching some vegan classes in San Diego, since she’s begun trying to find tasty dishes she can fix for him when he comes home to visit. This is one, although she does make it strictly vegetarian/vegan for him. Meaning no dairy, no prosciutto, no chicken broth, no butter.
This recipe DOES contain butter, prosciutto, cream (just a little tiny bit) and chicken broth, so you can pick and choose what you’d like to include or substitute. The dish is a two-step process – and they both come together in nearly the same amount of time. Start the mushrooms first, then get all the ingredients ready for the polenta. The latter takes about 7-9 minutes once the water and broth are at the boil. You want to serve this as soon as the polenta is done – once it sits it starts to firm up, and this is a dish to utilize soft, creamy (although there isn’t any cream or milk in it) polenta.
Prosciutto (chopped into small pieces from the thinly sliced type) is briefly cooked in olive oil, then removed and allowed to drain on paper towels until later. Butter is added to the pan and you cook the shallots and garlic, then the mushrooms (a mixture of shiitake, crimini or Portobello and button). After the mushrooms have released all their juices and it’s almost all simmered away you add the herbs, chicken broth and the little jot of heavy cream. Once they’ve cooked completely you add the parsley and Parm. Done.
Meanwhile you’ve made the polenta. Phillis always uses the Albers brand of regular cornmeal, not the pricey polenta grain. Once cooked she feels it makes little difference anyway. The dry meal is whisked slowly into boiling broth and allowed to simmer, with you stirring it very often, until it’s reached the right consistency. Then you add in some defrosted corn. Spoon it into bowls while it’s piping hot, then spoon the mushroom sauce on top and serve immediately! You can also add some Parm on top when you serve it.
What’s GOOD: all the flavors and textures going on in the bowl. This is comfort food for sure. The polenta is smooth and unctuous with the little bit of corn in it. The mushrooms are very tasty and have a toothsomeness to them. Altogether good, and not unhealthy, although there is a little butter and cream in it.
What’s NOT: nothing at all. If you’re a fiend for mushrooms make more of the sauce, as there isn’t all that much to divide onto 6 servings.
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Corn Polenta with Mushroom Ragu
Recipe By : Phillis Carey, cooking class 2013
Serving Size: 6
MUSHROOM RAGU:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces prosciutto — cut in thin strips
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup shallots — chopped
2 cloves garlic — minced
1 pound mushrooms — (mixture of button, shiitake, crimini or Portobello), trimmed and quartered or cubed, not sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme — chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary — chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley — chopped
6 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese — grated
POLENTA:
5 cups chicken broth
1 clove garlic — minced
1 cup yellow cornmeal — (Albers brand is best)
1 cup corn kernels — frozen type, thawed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1. MUSHROOMS: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto and cook until crispy, about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Add butter to the skillet and saute shallots and garlic briefly, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and sprinkle with salt and pepper, thyme and rosemary. Cook until mushrooms are nicely browned and all the liquid has cooked away. Add chicken broth, and simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add cream and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. POLENTA: Bring broth and garlic to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Lower heat and gradually whisk in cornmeal. Return to a simmer and stir often, cooking until polenta thickens and is not gritty in texture, about 7-9 minutes. Stir in corn and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in butter until melted and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Spoon polenta into a wide bowl and top with mushroom mixture, then sprinkle top with prosciutto and grated Parmesan. Serve immediately.
Per Serving: 330 Calories; 18g Fat (48.1% calories from fat); 14g Protein; 30g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 45mg Cholesterol; 1059mg Sodium.
Toffeeapple
said on April 15th, 2013:
That sounds delicious; I have never made polenta though I have made cornbread. I really should make the effort but the older I get the lazier I become.
Oh goodness, polenta is SO easy to make. Usually I make it with part water and part 2% milk, but in this version no milk at all. Since you eat lots of vegetarian meals, I know, this would be a perfect fit! . . . carolyn t