Polenta Primavera Recipes

SPRING POLENTA PRIMAVERA

Steps:

• Add the water, milk, salt and pepper to a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture just to a boil.
• Slowly pour in the polenta in an even stream, whisking the entire time.
• Turn the heat down to low and cover partially with a lid. Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, whisking every few minutes to get out any lumps (be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the pan), until the polenta is thick and creamy.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the olive oil, fresh basil and lemon zest. Taste and season with additional salt / pepper as desired.
• Meanwhile, add the olive oil to a large skillet set over medium heat. When hot, add in the onion and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until softened. Add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
• Add in the asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, peas, salt and pepper. Cook for about 6 to 8 minutes, or until tender to your liking. Remove from the heat. Taste and season with additional salt / pepper as desired.
• To serve, spoon some of the polenta into a bowl. Top with some of the veggies and garnish with some basil and walnuts. Serve immediately!

PASTA PRIMAVERA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• On a large heavy baking sheet, toss all of the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to coat. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another heavy large baking sheet and arrange evenly over the baking sheets. Bake until the carrots are tender and the vegetables begin to brown, stirring after the first 10 minutes, about 20 minutes total.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
• Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine. Toss with the cherry tomatoes and enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve immediately.

POLENTA PRIMAVERA

Steps:

• Cook polenta as directed on package.
• While polenta is cooking, heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion and garlic in oil 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender.
• Stir in green beans and bell pepper. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beans are crisp-tender. Stir in mushrooms, squash, fennel and salt. Cover and cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until squash is crisp-tender.
• Serve polenta over vegetable mixture. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

POLENTA WITH GARDEN VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Cook polenta as directed on package.
• While polenta is cooking, heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion and garlic in oil 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender.
• Stir in green beans and bell pepper. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beans are crisp-tender. Stir in mushrooms, squash, fennel and salt. Cover and cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until squash is crisp-tender.
• Serve polenta over vegetable mixture. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

POLENTA PRIMAVERA

Steps:

• Grease 9-inch pie plate.
• Bring water to a boil in medium saucepan.
• Slowly add cornmeal over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thick.
• Stir in fontina cheese, cream, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper; cook, stirring constantly, for additional 2 minutes or until very thick.
• Spread into prepared pie plate; cool for 1 hour or until firm.
• Cut into wedges; serve topped with sauce or tomatoes. (I prefer sauce).

CREAMY TORTELLINI PRIMAVERA

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook to 5 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally.
• Add carrots, celery, chicken broth,6 and black pepper. Bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
• Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain, transfer to a large serving bowl, and cover to keep warm.
• Stir ham and cream into carrot mixture and cook over low heat until just heated through.
• Pour cream mixture over tortellini, add Parmesan cheese, and toss to combine.

POLENTA LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix marinara sauce, garlic powder and herbes de Provence. Arrange half of the polenta slices in a greased 8-in. skillet. Top with half of the sauce; sprinkle with 3/4 cup cheese. Repeat layers., Cook, uncovered, over medium heat 12-14 minutes or until bubbly. Cover; cook 2-3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

POLENTA PASTICCIATA: BAKED POLENTA LAYERED WITH LONG-COOKED SAUCES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400° and set a rack in the center.
• Put plastic wrap on fresh polenta to keep it hot and to prevent a skin from forming on top. Be sure to assemble the pasticciata within 1/2 hour, while the polenta is still warm and soft with no lumps.
• If necessary, heat the filling sauce to quite warm. If it is too dense for spreading, thin it with some water. If you're extending the filling sauce with simple tomato or marinara sauce, warm them up together.
• Butter the bottom and sides of the baking dish or skillet thoroughly. Use more butter on the bottom in particular, if you want to unmold the pasticciata.
• Put 1/4 cup besciamella in the dish or skillet and spread it around the bottom; it doesn't have to cover every bit.
• Pour in half the polenta (approximately 5 cups) and spread it evenly in the bottom of the pan. Scatter 1/3 cup or more shredded Muenster or other soft cheese all over the top, then sprinkle on 2 to 4 tablespoons of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano. Pour or ladle 2 cups of the warm sauce over the polenta and cheese, and spread it all over-use 3 cups sauce if you want a thicker layer.
• Pour on a bit more than half of the remaining polenta (about 3 cups) and spread it. Spread another 1/4 cup of besciamella on top, top with shredded soft cheese and grated hard cheese in the amounts you like. Pour in the remaining sauce and spread it evenly, reserving a cup, if you have enough and plan to unmold the pasticciata.
• For the top layer, spread all the rest of the polenta and another 1/4 cup besciamella on top of that. Sprinkle on more shredded soft cheese and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano. If you're making a thin pasticciata in a big pan, or want it to have a beautiful deep gold gratinato, use enough besciamella and cheese to really cover the top. Do not compress the cheeses, though. See do-ahead note below.
• Set the pan on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or more, until the top is deeply colored and crusted, even browned a bit on the edges. Let the pasticciata cool for a few minutes before serving. If you are serving portions from the baking pan, cut in squares like lasagna, or wedges if you've used a round skillet or pan, and lift them out with a spatula.
• To unmold the pasticiatta, let it cool for at least 10 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the pan, cutting through crust sticking to the rim or sides. Lay a cutting board, big enough to cover it, on top of the baking pan or skillet, hold the two together (with the protection of cloths and the help of other hands if necessary), and flip them over. Rap on the upturned pan bottom-or bang on it all over-to loosen the bottom. Lift the board, and give the pan a good shake. The pasticciata will drop out soon, with sufficient encouragement. Serve it on the board, or reflip it onto a serving platter and serve with a cup or more of warm sauce heaped on the top or served on the side.
• If you want to prepare the pasticciata and bake later the same or next day, spread the last layer of polenta and coat it well with besciamella but don't sprinkle on the final layer of cheeses. Cover it lightly and leave it at room temperature, or wrap well and refrigerate overnight. Before baking, sprinkle on the cheeses and make a tent of foil (see page 203) over the baking dish, without touching the cheese. Poke a few small holes in the foil to vent steam. Set the pan on a sheet and bake for 1/2 hour at 400°, remove the foil, and continue to bake until deeply colored and crusted.
• *You can serve this with or without freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; it will be richer with, but just as good without.
• †Good alternatives are dry-packed mozzarella, Italian Fontina, cheddar, or other cheeses of your liking.
• All of the sauces that I recommend for layering in a pasticciata are delicious just ladled on top of hot polenta. You'll need 1/3 to 1/2 cup of hot sauce for each serving of Basic Polenta (finished with freshly grated cheese) or any of the Simple Variations that follow (page 216). Put the polenta in warm serving bowls, sprinkle over more Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano-it melts best under the sauce-then spoon the sauce on top.
• Hearty sauces like mushroom ragù or savoy cabbage and bacon are particularly delicious with polenta taragna, a coarse grind of whole-grain cornmeal and buckwheat. Prepare taragna exactly as you do yellow polenta, but give it an extra 10 to 15 minutes of cooking and more water as needed.

PORTOBELLO POLENTA BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large heavy saucepan, bring broth and water to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle boil; slowly whisk in cornmeal. Cook and stir until thickened and cornmeal is tender, 8-10 minutes., Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; saute onion and mushrooms until tender, 4-5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and garlic; cook 1 minute., Mix eggs, Gruyere cheese and salt; stir into polenta. Spread half the mixture into a greased 11x7-in. baking dish. Top with vegetable mixture. Drop ricotta cheese by tablespoonfuls over top. Spread with remaining polenta., Bake, uncovered, until edges are lightly browned, 25-30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with parsley.