IF YOU like polenta — that creamy, golden, northern Italian mush — then you have a choice of slow or fast polenta. The slow version is the real McCoy, a yellow or white maize flour that takes about 30 minutes of enthusiastic stirring before the grains dissolve into the consistency of thick custard. Instant, or “five-minute” polenta, is pre-cooked maize flour that has been dried and remilled. I think it is one of the more successful “instant” products, especially if you buy a good Italian brand. (Do not buy ready-made, vacuum-packed polenta if you have any self-respect at all.)
Then you have another decision to make: soft polenta, or firm? The soft, or “wet”, kind is what Jamie Oliver calls “oozy” polenta at his new casual Brit/It trattoria upstairs from his charity-run restaurant Fifteen in Hoxton. At the moment, he is serving it topped with a tender grilled baby chicken with pine nuts, sultanas and a red wine sauce; oozy it certainly is, and utterly delicious.
In fact, it had me making soft polenta at home the following night, this time to serve with a simple mushroom sauce. For firm polenta, you simply leave the soft polenta to cool and set into a golden mound that can be sliced and grilled, fried or baked. My suggestion is to make soft polenta, as the leftovers will set into firm polenta anyway, which you can grill or pan-fry to serve with pork sausages or a hot tomato sauce or, indeed, any leftover mushroom sauce.
SOFT POLENTA WITH MUSHROOMS
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 30 min
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Serves 4
2tbsp butter
2 leeks, finely sliced
750g wild or cultivated mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1tbsp tomato purée
200ml chicken or veg stock
sea salt and pepper
500ml water
500ml milk
225g instant polenta
1tsp salt
1tbsp butter
2tbsp freshly grated parmesan
2tbsp roughly chopped parsley
METHOD
To make the mushroom sauce, melt the butter in a frying pan, add the leeks and cook, stirring, for 10 min until softened. Wipe the mushrooms clean, and slice. Add to the leeks with the garlic and tomato purée, and toss well. Add the stock and simmer for 15 min. Season to taste.
To make the polenta, bring the water and milk to the boil in a heavy pot. Remove from the heat and slowly pour in the polenta, whisking constantly. Swap the whisk for a wooden spoon as it thickens, and continue stirring occasionally for 5 to 10 min over medium heat.
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Add the salt, butter and grated cheese. If it feels too thick, add a little extra milk or water. Pour on to warmed dinner plates, and spoon the mushroom sauce over the top. Scatter with parsley and serve.