If you are at all
familiar with my recipes you can tell that I love butternut and winter squash. So
hearing about the combining of two of my favorites, creamy polenta and
butternut, made me want to try it right away. I combined my recipe for polenta
with Viviane’s idea of adding butternut. I think her recipe sounds fantastic! She makes it with crème fraîche and toasted pumpkin seed oil which would be fabulous
but I did not have what I needed to follow her recipe exactly, though I will
try it soon. I also want to try some of
her other delicious recipes. Be sure to check out her online magazine Food and
Style and especially this recipe
that inspired me to add butternut to my
polenta!
I add lots of butter and 2-3 oz of cream cheese to this polenta recipe but you can skip these or cut back quite a bit if you are steering clear of dairy or trying to cut back on calories. If you are skipping butter, you will want to add a few TBSP of dairy free butter substitute or olive oil. The cream cheese makes this rich and creamy but again, I know many of you cannot do dairy so just skip if you must. If you are on the fence, just try it with the butter and cream cheese- they really make polenta better and this recipe makes about 6-8 side servings so not really much butter or cream cheese per serving!
Polenta was originally from Italy. It is similar to American
grits and many restaurants not in the south will use polenta in place of grits.
Polenta is made with cornmeal simmered in water or broth. There are various
things you can choose to add if you wish, butter and cheese for example.
Polenta is great topped with fish, sautéed greens, vegetables or various sauces.
Left overs can be chilled, sliced and grilled or fried. I buy Bob’s Red Mill corn meal for grits or
polenta. If you need completely gluten free, they have a gluten free option
that is not milled in the same place as wheat or soy products. Don’t buy
instant polenta or already made, sold in tubes! Polenta, similar to risotto, needs about 30
minutes to cook up and should be stirred often. I have heard somewhere that a
pinch of baking soda is a good addition but I have not tried it.
Now, on to the delicious combination of polenta and
butternut. Since butternut seems to be available nearly year round, I don’t
think of it as a fall/winter vegetable.
I use it all the time, and usually keep some butternut puree in the
freezer to use in recipes. One thing I
like about adding butternut to polenta is that I can make this gluten and
lactose free! I will admit I usually make my polenta with a good amount of
butter and parmesan, but I have tried polenta with butternut, olive oil and no
cheese and the squash makes it all good J
Polenta and butternut or plain polenta is an excellent
accompaniment to all kinds of greens, which are abundant in summer in gardens
and farmers markets. Swiss chard is something I can grow well in my garden that
our large bevy of bunnies does not devour.
It also goes great with grilled fish or shrimp, which seem to be summer
staples in our house. So this recipe for polenta with butternut is a wonderful
go to main or side dish for summer fare.
Creamy polenta with Butternut
4 cups of water OR 3 cups of water and one cup of vegetable
broth
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 cup polenta (medium ground corn for grits)
4 TBSP butter, unsalted
2-3 TBSP grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 heaping cup of butternut, roasted and pureed *
2-3 oz. cream cheese, low fat
More salt if needed
Extra butter if desired
*Roasting butternut-You can cook and puree the butternut anyway you like. I
prefer to wash and cut it in half, scoop
out the seeds and string and place cut down
in baking pan with a bit of water—no more than ½ “. Bake in 350 or 375
oven for 45 -60 minutes, checking for doneness often. Once it is softened,
remove from oven and let it cool. Peel or cut skin off or scoop out all the
squash. Place it a small batch at a time in food processor with a tsp. of water
and process until smooth. You could also use a hand masher or ricer. If there
are leftovers, place in a cup containers and freeze.
Heat water and salt to vigorous boil. Lower to medium boil
and slowly pour ground corn polenta in a little at a time, stirring or whisking
well for 2 minutes.
Lower to light simmer
and cook, stirring often, for 30-35 minutes until creamy and no longer gritty.
Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer a few minutes, stirring well until
everything is mixed in and warm. If you would like to prepare in advance, cool
and then heat in microwave or on stove and vigorously fluff with wooden spoon.
To serve:
My favorite way to serve up polenta is to top it with sautéed
greens, especially Swiss chard or spinach. I sometimes will add slivered onion to the pan
first with some olive oil and let it cook on low for 10 minutes before I add
the greens. Wash, pat dry the greens- chard, spinach, kale or others. For chard or kale, cut along the sides of the tougher,
larger stems and remove them. Next, chop the
greens well before sautéing for just a few minutes in olive oil, with a couple
cloves of mashed garlic, and a generous pinch of red pepper flakes with salt
and pepper.
Greens with bacon-Another way to cook greens is to cook up
some bacon, about 4 slices and remove it from the pan. Cook the greens in the
left over bacon drippings in the pan for a few minutes till tender and then
crumble in the bacon.
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| Okay, so she is a little spoiled. She prefers to be carried around while she naps. How can I say no to that face? |
Denise, the recipe looks wonderful. But I must say, my favorite photo of this post is the kitten! Indeed, who could say no to that face?
ReplyDeleteLove the polenta... but the kitten... awwwwwwww!! Too cute!! :)
ReplyDeleteMaking this tonight - so excited! Although, it does not replace personally eating your amazing cooking, it will have to suffice.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you can recreate some of our favorite dinners together in your new home :-) I will keep posting gluten free/dairy free options :-) miss you!
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