Grilled Polenta with Seared Crimini
Polenta has to be one of the most versatile foods on earth. You can put any sort of vegetable or meat sauce over it, and it tastes great. You can eat it as hot breakfast cereal, nibble it cold or reheat the leftover slices by frying, grilling, broiling or baking them. And though the sweet corn flavor is tasty by itself, it enhances other flavors so well it should really get an Oscar for Best Supporting Grain.
In this dish, Grilled Polenta With Seared Crimini, the polenta is the sane, virtuous foundation that upholds the outrageously rich topping. And this magic combo is the utility infielder of starter dishes. It can be a very nice hot appetizer, a hearty first course or a side dish for the roasted meat later on. It all depends on how you slice the polenta.
If you’re using DeLallo’s Instant Polenta, it takes a total of six minutes to boil the water (on a high-BTU burner at 1,650 feet above sea level) and one minute to whisk in the polenta. Then it’s time to pour the polenta into the cooling vessel—which can be an 8 x 8 baking dish (for sliced servings) or 8 individual oven-proof ramekins (for fancy little starters). Once the polenta has cooled, you can cut it into thick rectangles, like a pan of brownies, or you can pop the slices out and cut them into 2 horizontal layers, for chic, thin bistro slices. I even tried standing some thick slices up like a little polenta Stonehenge, but there was really nowhere to put the mushroom topping, so unless you’re going for comic relief, I would give the standing-stone approach a miss.
The topping is easy to make. You just heat the olive oil, sear the mushroom slices in it over a medium high flame, add some thyme and garlic and cook it within an inch of its life. By which I mean until the smaller pieces have started getting really browned and crispy. Meanwhile, you baste the polenta with more olive oil and grill both sides, being careful not to burn yourself on the flames from the dripping olive oil. It’s a very Biker Billy moment.
Then you put the home-style slices on a baking sheet, or the chic, thin bistro slices on individual ovenproof plates, or you pop the grilled rounds back into the ramekins. When the mushrooms have seared themselves almost dry, you spoon them over the polenta, sprinkle on some grated Gouda and broil them until the cheese is all melty and bubbly and starting to brown.
The earthy mushroom flavor mingles with the savory garlic and thyme, while the nutty, melty cheese and smooth, evenly textured polenta underneath are just sooooo satisfying. Five-star autumnal nosh!
