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Pasticcio di polenta con funghi (polenta casserole with mushrooms)

This was different from anything I have ever had and I liked it. It was rich and woodsy and real cold weather food. You have to love mushrooms, but if you do, you will also love this easy, make ahead casserole dish.

Tony Bourdain is our earthy place holder foto

Pasticcio di polenta con funghi

for 8 as a first course

preheat the oven to 175°C or 350°F

1 large onion, chopped
olive oil
3 large cloves of galic left whole
1 kilo or 2.2 pounds of mixed mushrooms including, if possible some porcini
(I used a one pound 430 g can of button mushrooms, a one pound 430 g package of frozen mixed mushrooms,
1 ounce 30 g of rehydrated dried porcini and a fat tablespoon of porcini powder)
salt
a glug of fortified wine such as Marsala or sherry
125 ml or 1/2 cup fresh heavy cream
nutmeg to taste
a handful of fresh thyme leaves or a tablespoon of dried ones

250 g or 9 ounces raw polenta cooked in salted water according to directions
200 g or 7 ounces grated Pecorino cheese

First, put the dried porcini in a bowl and cover them with very hot water then leave them to soak and become softened. Once they are softened, remove them with your hands, so that any dirt is left behind. If you are using some canned mushrooms, drain them, too, then filter the rehydrating water into the juices from the can. We won’t be leaving behind any flavor at all.

In a large frying pan, heat about 60 ml or 1/4 cup good olive oil and start sauteing the mushrooms, sprinkled with a bit of salt to help them lose water. This process will take varying amounts of time depending on what kinds of mushrooms you are using. Should you have fresh ones, they will take little time. Canned and frozen ones rake more time, and the rehydrated dried ones are much like fresh once rehydrated. Cook them over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until they are dried enough that the fat sizzles. Add the glug of wine and stir it up. Then add the reserved juices to the pan and cook them down until they are almost gone. Taste for salt and correct. Toss in the thyme and stir in the cream. Cook, stirring, just until it is bubbling hut, then grate nutmeg over the top, the quantity to your taste. Turn off the heat and leave it alone until you are ready to make the casserole.

Make the polenta and when it is creamy and fluffy, stir the grated Pecorino into it.

In a flat baking dish, spread half the mushroom mixture. Top that with all the polenta mixture. Ass the other half of the mushrooms, spreading them over the polenta. Put it into the oven for 30 to 40 minutes until bubbling hot. Serve immediately.

This dish also reheated very well in a covered frying pan over lowish heat. There were two serving left and I ate both of them quite happily, although a leftover lover I am not.

I believe this could easily be a main dish or a one dish meal for vegetarians, if accompanied by some great vegetables. It certainly has the physical and emotional weight to carry a meal.

However you eat it, it is terrific with a fruity red wine, such as a Salice Salentino, cheap and good from my beloved Puglia.

Add comment October 10th, 2008

South Beach at Northern Umbria

Today alisonk came to lunch. She is doing a low carbohydrate regime, so I had to whip up some flour-free goodies. For a first course in place of pasta or risotto, we had a mushroom soup. I made the basic soup a day ago because most soups get better for sitting. When I reheated it I added the part that might not have refrigerated well.

As you can see, it is very dark and filled with mushrooms. The following recipe made soup for two.

No Carbohydrate Mushroom Soup

1 pound (.5 kilo) champignon or button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced. stems chopped
2 tablespoons butter
about .75 quart or liter of strong beef broth

salt to taste
heavy cream to taste

In a heavy pot I sautéed the mushrooms in the butter until they were quite browned and almost dried. Then I added the beef broth. I allowed this to cook and cook down several times, adding water to bring it up to level each time. Because I used “Better Than Bouillon” for the broth I added and needed no salt. When the whole thing was thoroughly infused, I poured it into a container and refrigerated it.

Today, a few minutes before I needed it, I warmed it up almost to a simmer and then added heavy cream, stirring it in, until it tasted balanced and rich. I ladled it into two deep bowl/cups and this is what happened. The verdict was “Good!”

For main course, or secondo, we ate Pollo fra Diavolo from this page.

With it we ate a cabbage dish from Puglia that I once had made into a pasta, but today served it as it was meant to be. Because there is no chance at bread, pasta or dessert, I changed the fat used from oil to duck fat, but it will be good without it if you are not as lucky as we are.

Cavolo Pugliese or Pugliese cabbage

This would have been enough for four people normally, but this was a slender menu indeed.

about 3 cups of slivered fresh cabbage
2 small hot red peppers peperoncini
about 2 tablespoons oil or fat
salt to taste
5 cherry tomatoes, quartered

Heat a big frying pan with the fat you will use. Crumble the pepper into it (or take a pinch from a jar of crushed red pepper.) Add the cabbage and toss it about a bit to get the fat distributed. Continue to cook it, stirring once in a while, until some of the edges start to brown and there are no really hard parts left. Add about 1/2 teaspoon or a decent sized pinch of salt, stir and taste. Add salt until it seems right to you. Toss in the tomato pieces and stir until they wilt a bit. Serve.

I had prepared a salad, but there was no room left for it. We had eaten well.

1 comment March 4th, 2008