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Polenta, made from
corn, forms the starchy base for many Italian dishes. Its subtle
taste works well with the rich mushroom sauce.
Serves:
4
Ingredients
For
the sauce
-
15g/ ½ oz/1 cup dried porcini mushrooms
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15ml/1 tbsp olive oil
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50g/2oz/ ¼ cup pure vegetable margarine
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1
onion, finely chopped
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1
carrot, finely chopped
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1
celery stick, finely chopped
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2
garlic cloves, crushed
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450g/1lb/6 cups mixed chestnut and large flat
mushrooms, roughly chopped
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120ml/4fl oz/ ½ cup vegetable stock
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400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
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15ml/1 tbsp tomato puree
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15ml/1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
Direction:
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 Make the sauce. Put the dried mushrooms in a
bowl, add 150ml/ ¼ pint/ 2/3 cup hot water and
soak for 20 minutes. Drain the mushrooms,
reserving the liquid, and chop them roughly.
-
Heat the oil and margarine in a saucepan and add
the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Cook over
a low heat for about 5 minutes until the
vegetables are beginning to soften, then raise
the heat and add the fresh and soaked dried
mushrooms to the pan of vegetables. Cook for
8-10 minutes until the mushrooms are softened
and golden.
-
 Add the stock and boil for 2-3 minutes until
reduced, then add the tomatoes and mushroom
liquid. Stir in the tomato puree, thyme and salt
and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer for 20
minutes until the sauce thickens.
-
Meanwhile, heat the stock for the polenta in a
large heavy saucepan. Add a generous pinch of
salt. As soon as it simmers, tip in the polenta
in a fine stream, whisking until the mixture is
smooth. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring
constantly, until the polenta comes away from
the pan. Remove from the heat and stir in half
the Parmesan and some black pepper.
-
Divide the cooked polenta among four heated
bowls and top each with the mushroom sauce.
Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and serve
at once.
Nutritional Information:
Per portion
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Energy 550kcals/2293kJ
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Protein 17.2g
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Fat 21.3g
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Saturated fat 7.6g
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Carbohydrate 68.4g
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Sugar 5g
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Fibre (NSP) 3.1g
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Calcium 201mg
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