Polenta botched with mushrooms and meat sauce

There muddled polenta it is a unique dish that is more than tasty. It is an essential choice during the winter months, with its full aroma, its multifaceted flavor and its firm, satisfying texture. Botched polenta was born and spread in the regions of northern Italy, and each has produced its typical variant over time: the Aosta Valley for example, seasoned with fontina cheese, grated cheese and butter, the “polenta concia”, very common in Lombardy and Piedmont, or the “paciarela”, from Romagna, based on of sausage and tomato gravy. The list would be far too long. Exist many types of seasoning and different types of cereals with which delicious muddled polenta is now produced throughout Italy. The variant that we offer you today is with a meat and mushroom sauce that goes really well with any type of polenta, both with cornmeal and buckwheat or other cereals of your liking.

Ingredients for 6 people

  • Fresh mushrooms: 500 g
  • Minced meat: 300 g
  • Sausages: 3
  • Yellow flour for polenta: 350 g
  • Tomato sauce: 500g
  • Parmesan: 80 g
  • Water: 2l
  • Coarse salt: 1/2 tbsp
  • Fine salt: 10 g
  • Evo oil: 40 ml
  • Garlic: 1 clove
  • Parsley: 1 bunch
  • White wine: 1 glass
  • Celery: 2 stalks
  • Carrots: 2
  • Onion: 1 small
  • Preparation: 1 hour
  • Cooking: 2 hours, 30 minutes
  • Total: 3 hours, 30 minutes
  • Calories: 745 calories/portion

Prepare the ragout

1

Peel the onion and cut it into slices that are not too thin (3-4 mm).

2

With a potato peeler, also peel the well-washed carrots and cut them into slices. Remove the leaves from the celery, wash the stem well and cut it into small pieces.

3

Blend carrots, celery and potatoes in a mixer.

4

Remove the casing from the sausages and cut them into small pieces.

5

In a large saucepan, heat the extra virgin olive oil and add the vegetables. Cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are golden brown. At this point add both the minced meat and the sausage. Stir and cook for at least 15 minutes on medium-low heat. Add the white wine and let it evaporate over medium-low heat for about 7 minutes.

6

Finally, add the tomato sauce and salt. Stir and cook for 1 hour over low heat, checking and stirring regularly.

Mushroom preparation

1

Both purchased and collected mushrooms must be thoroughly cleaned. With the help of a sharp knife with a smooth blade, begin to eliminate the part between the cap and the stem. Gently scrape the stem until all traces of earth are eliminated. Also remove a small piece of the final part of the stem which is usually particularly earthy. If the mushroom is clean enough, remove the few earth residues with a cotton cloth. Put the mushrooms in a bowl with a teaspoon of baking soda for 10 minutes.

2

Afterwards, wash them under running, cold water, one by one. At this point you can cut your mushrooms into slices or pieces if they are very large on a cutting board.

3

Then put the mushrooms in a saucepan with plenty of water and bring to the boil. Once boiling has begun, cook for 5 minutes over high heat. Remove the foam that forms with a slotted spoon. Turn off and drain the mushrooms. Dry them on a clean kitchen towel, taking care not to crush them.

4

Wash the parsley and cut it into half moons finely.

5

Heat some extra virgin olive oil with a clove of garlic and add the parsley. Cook over medium-low heat for two minutes, then remove the garlic.

6

Add the mushrooms, salt and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat.

7

At this point, add the ragù, mix and cook for 10 minutes on a low flame. Taste to see if you need to add salt.

Preparation of polenta

1

Put 2 liters of water to boil in a polenta pot. When the water is about to reach boiling temperature (bubbles begin to form on the bottom of the pan), add salt and sprinkle in the flour.

2

Mix initially with a whisk, to prevent the flour from forming lumps and to allow the mixture to form evenly.

3

Since the cooking times are very long, it is advisable to keep stirring the dough so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Bake at least 45 minutes, even more (you can easily get to 60).

4

The polenta is ready when a crust forms on the sides. It’s time to add the Parmesan and mix.

5

Then add ¾ of the ragù and mix.

6

Serve the polenta and finish with the remaining ragu. You can put it in the fridge for a day covered, then serve it hot, heated in the oven for 10 minutes at 180° preheated static

Advice and tips

For botched polenta, it is possible use any type of mushrooms, the initial cleaning is the same. If you use button mushrooms, skip the step of boiling in water.

In case of harvested mushrooms, always check if they are edible. If you have any doubts, you can contact one of the Mycological Inspectorate centers in the area.

If, during cooking, the polenta turns out to be too hard, you can add water a little at a time, mixing quickly to incorporate it. If it is too runny, add more flour a little at a time.

If you’re short on time or don’t have a large enough pot, you can use ready-made polenta. Obviously the final result will be different, both in terms of taste and texture, but you will still have a tasty dish. The polenta is ready it should be heated for a few minutes in a pan or in the oven, sprinkled with a little extra virgin olive oil. Later it can be seasoned like the classic one.

storage

Botched polenta can be kept in the refrigerator for 1 daytaking care to store it already cold.

To avoid hardening the muddled polenta and keeping it nice and soft, before putting it in the fridge we advise you to wrap it in a clean tea towel, or to place it on a plate covered with two or three sheets of kitchen paper and then close it all with cling film. If you have the possibility, the ideal is to vacuum-pack your bungled polenta.

Ingredients for 6 people

  • Fresh mushrooms: 500 g
  • Minced meat: 300 g
  • Sausages: 3
  • Yellow flour for polenta: 350 g
  • Tomato sauce: 500g
  • Parmesan: 80 g
  • Water: 2l
  • Coarse salt: 1/2 tbsp
  • Fine salt: 10 g
  • Evo oil: 40 ml
  • Garlic: 1 clove
  • Parsley: 1 bunch
  • White wine: 1 glass
  • Celery: 2 stalks
  • Carrots: 2
  • Onion: 1 small
  • Preparation: 1 hour
  • Cooking: 2 hours, 30 minutes
  • Total: 3 hours, 30 minutes
  • Calories: 745 calories/portion
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Philip Owell

Professional blogger, here to bring you new and interesting content every time you visit our blog.