Polenta con Funghi — Print Recipe

A hearty Northern Italian comfort dish of creamy slow-cooked cornmeal polenta topped with sauteed wild mushrooms in garlic and herbs. It is a staple of the mountainous regions of Lombardy and Veneto.

Ingredients

250g coarse polenta cornmeal
1 liter water
500ml vegetable broth
300g mixed wild mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
50g butter
50g Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1 Bring the water and vegetable broth to a boil in a large heavy-bottomed pot, then slowly whisk in the polenta cornmeal in a steady stream to prevent lumps from forming.
2 Reduce the heat to low and cook the polenta for forty minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until it is thick and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the pot.
3 While the polenta cooks, heat olive oil and half the butter in a large skillet, then saute the sliced mushrooms over high heat for five minutes until golden and caramelized.
4 Add the minced garlic and thyme to the mushrooms and cook for another minute until fragrant, then season generously with salt and pepper.
5 Stir the remaining butter and grated Parmesan into the finished polenta, then spoon it into bowls and top each serving with a generous pile of the sauteed mushrooms.

Did You Know?

Before the arrival of corn from the Americas in the 16th century, Italian polenta was made from spelt, chickpeas, or buckwheat, and was considered food for the poor.