Mushroom and Herb Polenta

I just read an amazing article about Yotam Ottolenghi and immediately had to go out and get his cookbooks. This is from Plenty and it's ridiculous. I must admit - I was thinking about ways to make this recipe a little more healthy even as I was adding all the butter, cheeses, and truffle oil.... but when I tasted it I thought - why change it?! Just run more. 

Enjoy!


Mushroom and Herb Polenta
serves 2


4 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups mixed mushrooms, very large ones halved
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
1 tablespoon truffle oil
salt and black pepper
2 1/4 cups vegetable or chicken stock 
1/2 cup polenta (instant or traditional)
3 oz parmesan, grated
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped chervil
4 oz Taleggio (rind removed), cut into 3/8-inch slices

Heat half the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add half of the mushrooms and fry for a few minutes, or until just cooked; try not to move them much so you get golden-brown patches on their survace. Remove form the pan, and repeat with the rest of the mushrooms and oil. Off the heat, return all the mushrooms to the pan and add the garlic, tarragon, thyme, truffle oil and some salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan. Slowly stir in the polenta, then reduce the heat to the minimum and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. The polenta is ready when it leaves the sides of the pan but is still runny. If you are using instant polenta, this shouldn't take more than 5 minutes; with traditional polenta it could take up to 50 minutes (if it seems to dry out, add some more stock or water but just enough to keep it at a thick porridge consistency).

Preheat the broiler. When the polenta is ready, stir in the parmesan, butter, rosemary and half of the chervil. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the polenta over a heatproof dish and top with the taleggio. Place under the broiler until the cheese bubbles. Remove, top with the mushrooms and their juices, and return to the broiler for a minute to warm up. Serve hot, garnished with the remaining chervil.