Polenta With Wild Mushrooms and Marinara Sauce

Name: Polenta With Wild Mushrooms and Marinara Sauce
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: italian, mediterranean
Ingredients: 1 cup fine yellow or white polenta; 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, more to taste; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, more to taste and for garnish; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 pound wild mushrooms, like oysters or maitakes, cleaned and torn into small pieces if large; 2 shallots, minced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme; 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary or sage; 1/4 cup dry white wine; 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley; 1 cup Simple Marinara Sauce (see recipe)

By Martha Rose Shulman

Total Time: 1 hour
Rating: 5(313)
Notes: Read community notes

Years ago, I abandoned the traditional stir-until-you-get-a-blister-on-the-inside-of-your-thumb method for making polenta and became a convert to the easy oven-baked version. But then I began working with polenta freshly milled from heirloom varieties of corn, and went back to the top-of-the-stove method because the results were exceptionally creamy and fragrant.

This was at the urging of Kay Rentschler, who is the creative director of the Anson Mills website and writes its recipes. She is very specific about the best way to cook the mill’s products, so I followed her instructions for polenta, which are shared here. The flavor of the corn is heavenly, and once it begins to thicken, you don’t have to stir continuously, so it is not tedious to make.

You could serve polenta as a side, but I like to show it off and serve it as a main dish (a boon for those who now eschew pasta). It’s a wonderful vehicle for any number of toppings, but my favorite is a simple tomato sauce embellished with pan-cooked mushrooms, preferably meaty, flavorful varieties like oysters or maitakes. If you want to be extravagant, throw a few chanterelles into the mix.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

1cup fine yellow or white polenta
¾teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste
¼teaspoon black pepper, more to taste
2tablespoons unsalted butter
3tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, more to taste and for garnish
2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1pound wild mushrooms, like oysters or maitakes, cleaned and torn into small pieces if large
2shallots, minced
2garlic cloves, minced
1teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1teaspoon minced fresh rosemary or sage
¼cup dry white wine
1tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1cup Simple Marinara Sauce (see recipe)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
To make the polenta, place it and 3½ cups water in a heavy 2½- or 3-quart saucepan with a lid, and stir to combine. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until the fine polenta particles remain suspended and evenly distributed in the water without continuous stirring. This should take 5 to 8 minutes.
Step 2
Reduce heat to low, cover partly and cook, stirring often, until polenta is soft and holds its shape on a spoon, about 35 minutes. Whisk in salt after 20 minutes. When polenta is done, whisk in pepper, butter and Parmesan.
Step 3
While polenta is cooking, pan-cook mushrooms. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat in a wide, heavy skillet or a wok. Add mushrooms and cook, tossing and stirring often, until they sear and begin to sweat, about 3 minutes.
Step 4
Reduce heat under mushrooms to medium. Add another tablespoon oil and the shallots and cook, stirring, until just tender, 3 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and rosemary or sage. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook over medium heat until mushrooms are soft, about 5 more minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring, until it is no longer visible in the pan. Add parsley, taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat.
Step 5
As soon as polenta is soft, spoon into wide bowls or onto plates. Make a depression in the middle with the back of a spoon and add a spoonful of hot tomato sauce. Top with a spoonful of mushrooms, sprinkle with Parmesan if desired, and serve.

Tip

You can prepare the mushrooms and marinara sauce up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate. Reheat on top of the stove.

Ratings

5 out of 5

313 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Thomas Sherman6 years ago

In my household, polenta topped with something, i.e. wild mushrooms, poached egg, sautéed shrimp or sausage, has become the comfort food of choice. This is a great recipe. Add a bay leaf to the cooking polenta for a perfect extra note.

B. Tracy Madison6 years ago

The polenta about which Martha writes has no relation to commercially available polenta. They cook differently. I have been using the Anson Mills products, mostly the grits which are from pre-Columbian corn varieties, since I learned about them from a Wisconsin Public Radio program. The only place you can buy these grains is from the website, www.ansonmills.com. They are fresh, so are shipped frozen and must be stored in the freezer. And they area as good as Martha says.

Mary Durfee6 years ago

Fantastic recipe, tried it now am busy coming up with variations, thinking carmalized onion and blue cheese.

Stan6 years ago

Have made this twice-delicious both times.

I used a polenta purchased loose (not boxed) at Fairway. I found it was ready much earlier than the recipe calls for-about 20 minutes less time. Am I using a polenta different from the one called for, or not cooking it properly? Any thoughts are welcome.

mae6 years ago

For those of you in NYC, the Regional Grains Project carries polenta in farmers markets around town; check Greenmarket website. All of their grains & beans are super fresh, & this dish came out great again even though I too used jarred marinara from the Meatball Shop. The 2 lbs of oyster & baby bellas mushrooms I used smothered the dish making it very veggie centric!

Jen6 months ago

Wow. This is simple and delicious. All they components are key layered together as each on there own is mild in flavor.

Viva11 months ago

Absolutely delicious!

Joe2 years ago

I accidentally burned my tomato sauce, so made do without it--still quite delicious!

Laurie2 years ago

This is yummy! The marinara adds a lot; would be bland without it.

Tracey Jenkins3 years ago

Great Recipe. Got my husband to eat some mushrooms!

quaasam3 years ago

very nice. Soul food. Will do it again.

JBD3 years ago

Fine if not better with button and/or cremini mushrooms.

Sirena3 years ago

DELICIOUS!!! Used an even combination of maitake, oyster, and chanterelles. Opted for sage vs. rosemary. Heated up Victoria White Linen Marina Sauce (our favorite bottled) in the microwave. Added sauteed spinach with garlic between the marinara and mushrooms the second time we made this. Made a delicious dish even tastier and healthier! For Step 4, found it better to cook the mushrooms and put aside. Then cook the shallots, garlic and herbs. Once tender, add back in the mushrooms.

Ben Miller4 years ago

Very good. Skipped out on the tomato sauce to avoid dirtying an extra pan and instead added some more chopped parsley and lemon zest to the seared mushrooms to get the freshness and acid in. Also used dried mushroom stock for the polenta for more flavor.

Ginny4 years ago

Didn’t have enough mushrooms to make a pound so I added canned artichoke hearts, a bit of cream, a pinch of red pepper flakes and tossed in a Parmesan rind. Loved it. Polenta is a pretty blank canvas so there are lots of ways to spruce this up.

mae6 years ago

Douglas Branch6 years ago

Delicious. I, too, found that the polenta cooked a lot quicker than the recipe said. Much quicker. Done in 20 minutes, maybe. Jarred marinara, just fine. You don't have that much of it, anyway. And I found that doing 3/4 of this recipe, more or less, fed two of us well. I doubt the full recipe would feed four happily. Mixture of trumpet and shiitake mushrooms, but I bet any good mix would be delicious. Used more cheese, too.

Lydia6 years ago

Super easy (OK, I cheated on making the polenta from scratch, as have excellent local polenta), served with side dish of fava beans, which by the way are extremely tasty with the polenta. Nice mix of flavors that the eater can mix as desired.

Lydia6 years ago

Michael6 years ago

The polenta is a bit bland. Next time I will use chicken or vegetable stock instead of water and add more cheese.

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