Cheesy polenta can be adapted to vegan guests by subbing out your favorite veggie broth and vegan cheese.
This cheesy polenta was a big hit with guests back in December! (There is a vegan version as well.) Although I couldn’t get my mind around polenta for breakfast, the plates came back clean! I will say those sauteed portobello mushrooms were excellent.
We served this with scrambled eggs on the side. Rachael Ray’s version (from which we adapted this) has frico eggs on top. That’s a little too hard to accomplish on the tiny griddle, so we went with our usual creamy scrambled eggs.
Not sure if cheesy polenta is really adaptable to a brunch, but it definitely makes a great dinner! If you’ve never made it before, allow some time to get the polenta to the right consistency.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes total |
| Servings |
people
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- 6 large portobello mushroom caps scraped out and cut into thick slices
- 1 1/3 cups polenta quick cooking
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic sliced thinly or crushed
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary destemmed and chopped
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 4 cups stock chicken or veggie
- 3 pats butter (3 tbsps or 3 pats)
- 1/4 cup scallions chopped
- 1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
- 1 pinch dried thyme
Ingredients
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- Start with roasting the mushrooms. Be sure the gills are scooped out before slicing. Preheat oven to 450. Use parchment paper on a large baking sheet for mushrooms. In a bowl, toss the mushrooms, oil, garlic, spices and salt & pepper. Arrange on baking sheet without overlapping. Roast for 10 minutes, turn mushrooms over and roast another 10 minutes, until nicely browned. When done, remove from oven and return to bowl.
- While the mushrooms are roasting, start the polenta on the stove top. In a medium saucepan, heat the stock (veggie or chicken) over medium heat. Add the polenta and whisk until thick (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat and add butter. Whisk until melted in. Add in Parmesan cheese and a little salt & pepper. Stir until combined. If the polenta is too thick, add a bit of stock. It should be scoopable, but not soupy.
- The mushrooms and polenta should be done at this point. In a small frying pan, saute the tomatoes with the scallions and thyme in a bit of olive oil. Essentially, you are warming up the tomatoes, not cooking them. Toss them lightly in the pan over low heat for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Toss with mushrooms.
- With your plates lined up, spoon the polenta onto the plates. Top with mushroom and tomato mixture. Enough for 8 if serving with eggs. 4, if serving for dinner. We serve with scrambled eggs. We made the polenta and mushrooms the night before and warmed them in the oven in the morning.
We have dozens more recipes on the website for you to peruse. Enjoy them all!
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