Polenta with sautéed vegetables and tomato sauce
Team: Wildcooks
Host School: Lake Champlain Waldorf School
Age Group: High School
Ingredients
1 cup coarse ground VT cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable broth
3 – 4 cups water
4 TB butter
8 oz. mild VT cheddar, grated
2 tablespoons VT butter
1 (8-ounce) package mushrooms, sliced
2 small zucchini, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh oregano or ¼ tsp dried
2 tablespoons VT butter
1 small onion, sliced lengthwise
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 bunch swiss chard, washed and chopped
5 pounds fresh tomatoes or 1- 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
3/4 tsp salt
2 TB olive oil
1 garlic clove minced
¼ tsp dried basil
1 bay leaf
Preparation Instructions
Bring vegetable broth and 3 cups water to a boil in a medium-size heavy sauce pan over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Pour cornmeal slowly into water, stirring with a wire whisk or wooden spoon. Continue stirring as mixture thickens, 2 to 3 minutes.
Turn heat to low. Cook for at least 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. If polenta becomes quite thick, thin it with 1/2 cup water, stir well and continue cooking. Add up to 1 cup more water as necessary, to keep polenta soft enough to stir. Put a spoonful on a plate, let it cool, then taste. Grains should be swollen and taste cooked, not raw. Adjust salt and add pepper if you wish.
Add 4 tablespoons butter and grated cheese to pot and stir well. Serve immediately or transfer to a double boiler set over low heat, cover and keep warm for up to an hour or so.
While ploenta is cooking heat 2 T butter in a skillet over med-high heat. Add mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes. Add zucchini, sautée another 3 minutes. Add herbs and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Heat 2T butter in another skillet over med-high heat. Add sliced onions and salt. Sautée for 2 minutes or until golden, add swiss chard and sautée for additional 5 minutes until chard is soft. Adjust seasoning and keep warm.
If using fresh tomatoes, cut in half horizontally. Squeeze out the seeds and discard, if you wish. Press the cut side of tomato against the large holes of a box grater and grate tomato flesh into a bowl. Discard skins. You should have about 4 cups.
Put tomato pulp or canned tomatoes in a low wide saucepan over high heat. Add salt, olive oil, garlic, basil and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a brisk simmer.
Reduce the sauce by almost half, stirring occasionally, to produce about 2 1/2 cups medium-thick sauce, 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and adjust salt.
To serve, place 1 cup cooked polenta on plate, drizzle 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce over the polenta. Add a spoonful of the mushroom-zucchini mixture and top with a spoonful of swiss chard. Garnish with grated parmesan cheese.