Creamy Polenta with Mushrooms and Cavolo Nero
A hearty and comforting bowl of goodness. Wet polenta makes a wonderful change to mashed potato or pasta and soaks up sauces beautifully. This dish sings winter and is one we urge you to try. Sustainable, seasonal and packed full of deep and earthy flavours.
Method
Based on 4 servings, adjust as needed.
Step 1
Place a large frying pan onto a medium heat and add 15g butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. When the butter is foaming, add half of the sliced mushrooms and half of the chopped garlic, a pinch of salt and a generous twist of black pepper. Fry for 5-6 minutes until the mushrooms are golden brown and caramelised. Remove the mushrooms from the pan onto a plate. Add another 15g butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook the remaining mushrooms and garlic for a further 5-6 minutes. Remember to season again. FYI: We do this in batches so the mushrooms fry, rather than boil. Once the mushrooms are all cooked, remove from the pan.
Step 2
Place the same pan back onto a medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Once hot, tip in 325g cut cherry tomatoes, 1 tbsp thyme leaves and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook the tomatoes for 5-6 minutes until the start to break down. You may want to crush them slightly to encourage them to release their juices. Add the cooked mushrooms back into the pan, stir well and keep on a very low simmer while you cook the other elements. Remember to stir occasionally.
Step 3
Strip 200g cavolo nero from its stalks and roughly tear the leaves. Pour a dash of olive oil into a saute or frying pan and add the prepared cavolo nero. Cook on a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the leaves have wilted. Finally, add a squeeze of lemon juice and keep warm. (You can do this step while the tomatoes are cooking).
Step 4
Now it's time to cook the polenta. Into a medium saucepan add 600ml boiling vegetable stock and 400 ml milk. Bring to a rapid boil. Using a whisk, make a vortex in the liquid, before pouring in 200g polenta. Keep whisking until the polenta is thick and creamy. This will take only a few minutes. Add 80g grated parmesan the remaining 20g butter and season with pepper.
Step 5
Spoon the polenta into bowls as soon as it is ready. Top with the mushrooms and tomatoes and the sauteed cavolo nero. If you have some to spare, grate over a little more parmesan cheese.
- Ingredients
- Based on 4 servings
-
1 tbsp Thyme, leaves picked from stalks 1x Sainsbury's Bunched Thyme 20g -
3 Garlic Cloves, peeled and chopped 1x Sainsbury's Garlic -
200g Polenta 1x Sainsbury's Polenta 400g -
200g Calvo Nero, stalks chopped, leaves roughly shredded, 1x Sainsbury's Cavolo Nero, Black Kale 200g -
50g Butter 1x Sainsbury's British Butter, Salted 250g -
325g Baby Plum Tomatoes, cut in half 1x Sainsbury's Baby Plum Tomatoes 325g -
400 ml Milk 1x Sainsbury's British Semi Skimmed Milk 1 Pint -
600ml Vegetable Stock 1x Sainsbury's Stock Cubes, Vegetable 10x10g -
1 Lemon 1x Sainsbury's Lemons -
3 tbsp Olive OIl 1x Sainsbury's Olive Oil, Extra Virgin 500ml -
600g Mini Portobello Mushrooms, cut into 1cm slices 4x Sainsbury's Portabello Vitamin D Mushrooms 150g -
80g Veggie Parmesan, grated 1x Stamford Street Co. Italian Hard Cheese 200g -
Maldon Salt, to taste 1x Maldon Sea Salt Flakes 250g