Think of this meal as a “Quick, stir-fry ratatouille”, if you will. This dish is hearty enough to satisfy a hearty hunger. I love creamy polenta, instead of mashed potatoes. This is a comforting meal, that has room for improvising– for example, you can substitute the mascarpone for cream cheese. Or, you can save a few calories, and leave it out altogether!
The Christmas preparations are over, for the year. Last night, I polished off the last (small) slice of Peppermint Cream Pie and I felt like a glutton. It didn’t help that a certain “someone” bought a box of custom packed box of my beloved See’s Caramel Chocolates. Said person is fully aware of my weakness for caramel. His name is Craig Santa. For the sake of politeness, I felt obliged to indulge in one two three of them.
This morning, my pancreas was giving me a “what for“, and I am feeling a bit guilty. That must explain why I have an urgent craving for vegetables. I want need a break from heavy cream, fresh baked rolls and decadent overly sweet desserts.
I created this recipe a while ago, and forgot to post it. It was inspired by a dish that my husband ordered at a restaurant up in the Napa Valley area– an obscure town, whose name I can’t even remember won’t mention. It was a busy restaurant that specialized in their polenta. I stupidly ordered a soup, which was bland and tasteless, and served by a surly waiter (which is why I won’t say where this place is). My husband ordered the Vegetable Ragu with Creamy Polenta. He offered a taste of it, and I was smitten. I was also experiencing a mean case of food envy.
When we returned home, I made it my personal mission to try and recreate
the dish, and I think I succeeded. It’s so easy to make, that I’m going
to just share a pictorial. For those of you who need a recipe, you’ll
find a recipe card at the end of this post. Ready? Here we go:
Vegetable Ragu with Creamy Mascarpone Polenta
Ingredients
RAGU:
- 2 medium-sized zucchini sliced about 1/4- thick
- 2 medium-sized yellow squash sliced about 1/4- thick
- 1 carrot sliced about 1/4- thick
- 1 red or yellow onion sliced about 1/4-inch thick
- 1 garlic clove finely minced
- 1 can diced tomatoes low-salt preferred)
- 1 can tomato sauce low-salt preferrred
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup red wine optional, but my preference
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Olive oil for sauteeing the vegetables
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Note: Use whatever vegetables you prefer
POLENTA:
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup corn meal
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup mascarpone you can substitute cream cheese, or leave it out completely
- Chicken stock optional
Instructions
- In a large skillet, add enough olive oil for an even coat. Heat on medium high-heat.
- Add the vegetables to the hot skillet, and season with salt & pepper to taste.Saute the vegetables, on medium high heat, until soft (but just a little al dente) until golden brown. Because the squash cooks faster than the carrots and onion, I cooked them separately and a bit longer.
- When the last batch of vegetables is at the end of sauteeing, add the minced garlic. Stir and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, and remove the vegetables and set aside.
- You want to see some browning on the bottom of the pan, after cooking all the vegetables. This is where the flavor comes from.
- For flavor building, add a generous splash of red wine to the hot skillet. (You could opt out of the wine by substituting a chicken or vegetable broth). Deglaze the pan, scraping up all the flavor bits from the skillet.
- Add the tomato paste, whisking and cooking for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce; add the Italian seasoning and sugar*.
- *The sugar is to balance out the acidity of the tomato sauce.
- Stir until combined and bubbly hot. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your liking. Note: The reason I prefer to use low-salt tomato products is so that I can control the salt-intake.
- Add the vegetables to the sauce and stir to combine; reduce heat to low.
Polenta:
- Bring the water* and salt to a boil. Add the milk. *You can substitute chicken stock for the water, if you wish.Slowly whisk in the corn meal, which will begin to thicken very quickly. Reduce the heat. Add the Parmesan cheese, butter, and mascarpone and whisk until melted and combined. Taste for seasoning. To keep the Polenta warm (up to 20 minutes), cover with a lid.
- To serve, if the Polenta is too thick, you can smooth it out by adding a little low-salt chicken stock, milk or water.
Notes
Polenta always makes me super excited. Surly waiters do not. I'm so glad you were able to recreate this minus the attitude!
Yum yum yum!
The pics are making me hungry! 🙂
I love the idea of putting mascarpone in polenta! Happy New Year!
OK, so that polenta has me wanting to run out and buy some mascarpone. What a decadent treat. I'd love the veggies over brown rice too and may have to resort to that, with all the polenta I've been eating lately (to which I add either milk or cream). wow, that rib roast and peppermint pie look outrageously good too. Do you have to wait until next year to post the recipe?