kale
“The food of the Gods”
Polenta cakes with mushrooms sauce and kale
Once I read that the ancient Romans believed mushrooms were the “food of the Gods” and I think most of us (Italians) still see mushrooms in the same way.
The properties contained in mushrooms are slightly different depending on each variety. For this recipes we used chestnut mushrooms which are rich in vitamin K —an essential nutrient to ensure healthy blood and bones—B vitamins and minerals such as copper and selenium. These succulent vegetables are also an amazing source of antioxidants and immune-boosting compounds such as beta-glucans.
“What I have realised during over three decades of dinner parties and, particularly, Christmas parties is that we all often start binging on appetizers and starters—high-calorie foods, made with refined ingredients and almost zero fibre— to find ourselves feeling full before the main meal even arrives on the table. For this reason, I like to inspire my guests with low-calorie vegan or vegetarian starters, and to share with you the recipes I tried.” says Giulia
Polenta is a delicious food, typical from Italy. In my region, Sardinia, people used to eat polenta as a primo, often served with a tomato sauce. In Lombardia instead, Giulia said “there is no party without polenta, but this corn-flour pudding gets generally served as a side dish (contorno), together with roasted or stewed meat.” Since polenta is very light, gluten-free and has a delicate flavour that works well with pretty much everything Giulia and I decided to use it as a base for our Christmas starters.
The combination of vegetables we used as topping also has the traditional flavours of Italy. However you could potentially use other veggies if you don’t like mushrooms or cavolo nero.
Cavolo Nero, also known as Tuscan Kale, is just an Italian variety of kale, but with dark green-blue leaves —here the adjective “nero” which means black.
Kale belongs to the cruciferous vegetable family, known for its high amounts of phytonutrients which help promoting detoxification and protecting against cell-aging. Like most leafy green vegetable, kale is also high in beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin K and minerals, especially manganese.
These polenta cakes are perfect served as a starter either for Christmas or NYE.
They are really easy to make, provided that you buy the instant polenta, or the task will become way longer.
For a more luxurious version you can use Porcini mushroom which have a stronger taste.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
POLENTA
200g Instant polenta
800ml vegetable stock
1 tsp salt
MUSHROOM SAUCE
200G chestnut mushrooms
1-2 cloves garlic
15g butter
30ml red wine
100g tomato sauce
a few leaves of kale (Cavolo nero)
100ml water
5g butter
1/2 lemon squeezed
TO SERVE
a bunch of parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
For the polenta I recommend using Instant polenta unless you want to spend your day cooking. For best results follow the instructions on the package. I used De Cecco polenta for mine (This is not a sponsored post). It just needs about 8 minutes to be ready.
The procedure is more or less the same for every polenta though, it consists in boiling your vegetable stock in a large pot, add in some salt to your liking.
Then remove the pot from the stove and pour in the polenta slowly into the water while stirring.
After you poured it all in, bring back the pot on the stove and cook at low heat stirring continuously for about 8 minutes or until the water is fully absorbed.
Take a large flat tray and pour in your polenta. It should form a layer about 1 inch thick. Leave to cool down.
In the meantime we can work at our mushroom’s sauce.
First thing clean your mushrooms using the tip of the knife to scrape the stalk a tiny bit and use a kitchen towel to clean the top of the mushroom.
Slice your mushroom into small pieces.
In a small pan heat up the butter and when it is melted add in the garlic cloves. Cook for 2-5 minutes or until they have some colour. Add in your mushrooms previously cut, add half a glass of water and cook with the lid on for about 10-15 minutes at low heat. Your mushrooms are ready when they are soft.
Spoon in your tomato sauce and cook at low heat for another 10minutes. Season to taste. Sprinkle some parsley on the top.
Now we will quickly prep the kale that will form a base for our mushroom sauce to seat on top of the polenta. Wash the kale, then on a chopping board shred it into 1 inch wide strips.
Bring to the boil 100ml of water with salt, add in the butter and lemon juice and cook your kale for about 5 minutes or until tender. Drain it well and set aside.
Cut the polenta into circles with a cookie cutter or squares if you prefer.
Heat up a pan and heat-up the polenta for about 2 minutes per side.
Place the circles on a serving tray. Then place some of the kale leaves on top of each one and spoon in some your mushroom sauce.
The polenta cakes are now ready, they are also delicious served at room temperature.