Ricotta Polenta With Tomato Mushroom Sauce/Ragu
Creamy Polenta with Tomato and Mushrooms
I posted this back in January 2012, it’s really delicious and worth posting again, I am not really doing any cooking because of my injury so I thought it would be fun to go back into the recesses of my blog and re post some of my recipes. This is a wonderful, filling vegetarian dish, you can of course add meat to the sauce but I love it with just vegetables. Tailor to however you like it, adding lots of fresh herbs, different types of mushrooms, I think eggplant would be wonderful. You don’t really have to follow a recipe for this.
Serves 4-6 depending on serving size
4 cups whey or water
1 cup polenta (corn meal) I used stone ground
pinch of salt
1/2 cup ricotta (well drained)
2 tbs butter
black pepper (2 or 3 turns of the pepper mill)
In saucepan add the whey or water and pinch of salt, bring to a rolling boil. Whisk in the polenta, don’t dump it all in add slowly while you are whisking it thickens very quickly. Lower heat to low and continue whisking until its done. It takes approximately 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat add the butter and stir, now add the ricotta. Stir until its all incorporated. Cover pan and set aside while you make the sauce.
8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced or whatever type of mushroom you like
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes or 1 28 oz can whole or chopped tomatoes
splash of white wine
2 clove garlic peeled and minced
1 whole shallot peeled and chopped
handful italian parsley chopped
olive oil for pan
salt and pepper to taste
Put some olive oil in a saute pan and heat on medium high. Add the shallots and cook until they become soft and translucent. Add the garlic and continue to cook until they start to caramelize. Now add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms lightly browned, add the tomato and wine and cook on med/high until sauce thickens approximately 30 minutes uncovered, I like to cook this in a large skillet. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat. Add the chopped parsley.
apuginthekitchen 