This recipe is courtesy of my shiny new America's Test Kitchen cookbook. It is so tasty! It takes some time to put together, but it's not difficult. And it makes a decent amount and reheats beautifully the next day. It also works well as a make-ahead dish. You can cook the polenta and assemble the casserole ahead of time and then just pop it in the oven to warm it up and melt the cheese right before serving.
I will definitely, definitely be making this one again. I think this may be my new favourite way to use Swiss chard. And, honestly, I think if you have an abundance of chard, you could probably safely double it without upsetting the balance of the dish.
Polenta Casserole with Mushrooms and Swiss Chard
Slightly adapted from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen
Ingredients
- 3 c. water
- 1 c. whole (3.25%) milk1
- 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
- 1 c. cornmeal/polenta2
- 60g Parmesan, grated (~1 c.)
- 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter3
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 700g-750g mushrooms, trimmed and sliced4
- 3 Tbsp. garlic paste (or 3 cloves garlic, minced)
- 1 tsp. dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp. fresh, minced)
- 1 (~800mL) can diced tomatoes5
- 250g Swiss chard6, stemmed and cut into 1" pieces
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 125g fontina cheese, shredded (~1 c.)7
Directions
- Combine water, milk, cornmeal, and 1/2 tsp. salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally until very thick.8
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan over medium heat.
- Add onion and 1/4 tsp. salt and cook until onion is softened.
- Add mushrooms and cook until they have released their liquid and are well-browned.
- Stir in garlic and thyme and cook for an additional minute or so.
- Add tomatoes (and their juice) and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened (~10 minutes).
- Stir in chard, 1 handful at a time, and cook until wilted.
- Season with pepper (and, optionally, more salt if desired).
- Once polenta is sufficiently hydrated and thickened (I usually find this takes ~an hour), remove from heat and stir in Parmesan and butter.
- Pour polenta into a greased casserole (or lasagna pan).
- Spread mushroom mixture on top of polenta.
- Top with shredded fontina.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 400°F.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
1 I actually used 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream + 1/2 c. 1% milk instead of whole milk. I know that works out to ~18% MF rather than the 3.25% of "standard" whole milk, but I had some whipping cream that needed using and I didn't really want to mess around with trying to get the exact percentage. I figured that, if anything, the extra fat would help "protect" the dairy from curdling while the polenta was cooking. Back
2 The original recipe calls for "coarse-ground polenta". I didn't bother trying to find something that was coarse or specifically marketed as polenta. If you can find coarse-ground cornmeal, I'm sure that would be lovely. I just used the regular (medium-grind) that I already had on hand. And I was very happy with the results! Back
3 I just realized that I totally forgot to add the butter to the polenta! I guess, between the missing butter and the extra cream the fat content probably just about balanced out to what it was supposed to be. Yay for happy coincidences! Back
4 The original recipe calls for white mushrooms. I almost never use white mushrooms and default to substituting cremini (aka baby bella) anywhere that white mushrooms are called for. For this particular instance, it just so happened that there were a variety of other mushrooms on sale for half price, so I ended up doing a mix of everything from the sale bin: oyster, king oyster, white oyster, black oyster, enoki, and cremini. Personally, I would recommend that at least 1/3 of the mushrooms used in this recipe (~250g) be cremini, but feel free to go wild with the other 2/3! I loved the results of my mushroom mix. Back
5 So, apparently I really wasn't awake when making this. I completely missed the tomatoes! It was delicious anyway. I'm sure it would be even moreso with the tomatoes though. It would give it a bit more substance and sauciness. At least the lack of tomatoes really gave all those varied mushrooms a chance to shine! I'll try making it with the tomatoes next time and see how it compares. That said, if dinnertime rolls 'round and you suddenly discover you're out of tomatoes, don't be afraid to make it without them! You'll still end up with an amazing dish. Back
6 I think collard greens and/or beet greens would also work particularly well in this recipe. Spinach and/or kale would probably also do in a pinch. Back
7 If you can't find fontina then provolone or a mild Gouda would make good substitutes. Back
8 This is where ATK and I differ in our approaches. Normally I swear by their tips, tricks, and recommended techniques, but not for polenta! They recommend bringing the liquid to a boil first and then adding the cornmeal in a thin stream while stirring back and forth. This technique seems to be "common knowledge". "Everyone knows" that you have to add polenta to boiling water/liquid in a thin stream and stir it constantly or else you'll get clumpy, lumpy polenta. I don't do this. I just dump the cornmeal into the water in one big scoop. But I add it while the water is still cold. I've never had a problem with polenta cooked this way being at all lumpy. Even when I neglect the stirring quite a bit. I got this tip from a page on Serious Eats and it has never failed me. Back
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