Polenta is a great canvas for all sorts of toppings. Things like braises, meatballs, sautéed, garlicky greens and shrimp. You name it and I bet it wouldn’t taste bad on a bed of polenta. I love my polenta to be extra creamy with plenty of butter and parmesan and the enrichment of a cheese. With that in mind, I thought goat cheese would compliment the earthiness of mushrooms in this recipe. I’ve adapted this recipe from River Cottage Veg which is a wonderful book if you’re looking for vegetable centric recipes.
What kind of polenta should I use?
There are lots of variations of polenta (or grits in the southern United States) that can be found. Some are made from yellow or white corn. Some are “instant”, meaning a very fine grind. Others are ground courser, labeled medium or course grind. The courser the grind, the longer it will take to cook. My preference is a medium to course grind for polenta. It creates a nice, creamy texture when cooked properly and the grains have swollen and rehydrated. Also, I think you taste more of the corn flavor in a courser grind.
To cook course polenta, I generally use a 4:1 ratio of liquid to polenta. So, to cook 1 cup of polenta, you need four cups of liquid. The liquid could be water, milk (dairy or plant-based) or stock or a combination of these. Flavorings for the liquid could be a bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, peppercorns, parsley stems or a parmesan rind. You could get very creative here!
To finish cooked polenta, any kind of cheeses could be stirred in. To make it vegan, nutritional yeast, vegan butter or cheese and olive oil could be added. A dash of soy sauce wouldn’t be bad either. As for amounts given for the butter, parmesan and goat cheese, these are really just suggestions. Feel free to add more if you like it richer or cheesier.
To make cooking polenta easy, I love a spurtle for the job. A spurtle is a wooden tool that was first invented for stirring porridge oats in Scotland. It’s great for getting into every corner of a pan without scratching. I find myself using it all the time for lots of cooking jobs.
White or red wine for the Ragout?
This is entirely a matter of taste. I made the recipe with red wine and as you can see, it creates a very rich, dark red, wine(y) tasting sauce for the mushrooms. Using a white wine will make a lighter sauce and will really let the mushrooms shine through. With that, I think it’s a matter of personal preference. Also, try to get a nice variety of mushrooms here. They add such a pleasing nuance of textures and flavors to the ragout.
Goat Cheese Polenta with Mushroom Ragout
Ingredients
For the Polenta
- 2 cups (500 ml) milk (dairy or plant-based)
- 2 cups (500 ml) water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 cup (165 g) polenta (NOT quick cooking)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 oz. (60 g) goat cheese
- ¼ cup (30 g) parmesan, grated
- 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- ⅛ tsp black pepper (or to taste)
For the Mushroom Ragout
- 1½ pounds (650 g) mushroom (any varieties such as cremini, shiitake, portobello, white, oyster, enoki, etc) sliced or torn
- 3 tbsp olive oil (divided)
- 4 tbsp butter (divided)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (divided)
- 2 sprigs thyme, leaves removed
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- 2/3 cup (150 ml) red or white wine
- 2/3 cup (150 ml) vegetable or chicken stock
Garnishes (optional)
- extra parmesan cheese, for shaving or grating
- thyme leaves
- good quality extra virgin olive oil
Method
For the Goat Cheese Polenta
- Combine milk, water, bay leaf, grated garlic and 1 teaspoon salt in a large, thick bottomed pot. Heat over medium-high heat until starting to gently simmer. While whisking, gradually stir in the polenta. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a gentle simmer.
- Cook for about 30 minutes (stirring often with a long handled spoon) or until polenta is very thick and grains are soft (tip: once polenta starts to thicken, reduce heat to lowest setting so polenta barely bubbles). To finish, stir in butter, goat cheese, parmesan, salt and pepper (to taste). Cover with a lid to keep warm.
For the Mushroom Ragout
- In a large skillet, heat 1½ tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium high heat. When butter stops foaming, add half the mushrooms. Saute' mushrooms until starting to brown. Add leaves from 1 sprig of thyme and 1 clove minced garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside. Repeat sauteing process with remaining mushrooms.
- Add the first batch of mushrooms back into the pan. Increase heat to high. Pour in the wine and simmer to reduce it by half. Add the broth and bring back to a boil. Simmer again until liquid has reduced slightly. While simmering, add the remaining butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, swirling pan to incorporate.
- To serve, ladle warm polenta into bowls or plates (if polenta has thickened too much, stir in ¼ cup or more of milk or water to loosen). Top with mushroom ragout and garnish with parmesan shavings, thyme leaves and a drizzle of good olive oil.
Notes
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Not sure how you made those mushrooms look beautiful, but you did! I love all things mushrooms, but they never look appetizing on film. This would probably be a good appetizer for our quaint Friends Christmas Dinner,
Thanks so much! 🙂 Yes, I’d love to have this as a starter. Hope you like it!
This looks so yummy and perfect for cool fall evenings! I’ll have to make this very soon!!
I hope you do! Thanks!
My mouth is watering!!!! My goodness, this looks good. I wish my husband liked polenta, because I would make this in a heartbeat. Once upon a time he ate polenta for three months straight working a stage in a michelin star kitchen in France and he completely lost his taste for it. Surely this recipe will give him a change of heart?
I love this story! Too bad he can’t eat polenta anymore though, lol. I wish I could have staged abroad but I never got the chance. Thanks for reading!