Ingredients
| 500g polenta (cornmeal) | |
| 2 teaspoons coarse salt | |
| 1kg wild mushrooms, or mushrooms of your choice | |
| 3 tablespoons olive oil | |
| 1 garlic clove, halved | |
| 1 rosemary stalk |
This is a typical autumn recipe, to serve as a side dish or with cured meats and cheeses. In Veneto, you can try the delicious chiodini, local mushrooms.
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Instructions
| 1. | TO MAKE THE POLENTA |
| 2. | For 500g polenta, use 4 times its volume in water (2 litres). |
| 3. | Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan, add the coarse salt and quickly add the polenta in a stream, mixing at the same time with a large wooden spoon to avoid lumps. Be careful of splatter! |
| 4. | For a more liquid polenta, add a little more boiling water at the start of the cooking. Stir frequently. |
| 5. | Cook on a very low heat until the polenta comes away from the side of the pan. |
| 6. | Allow about 1 hour to cook, covered (or according to packet instructions if you are using a quick-cooking polenta). |
| 7. | To clean the mushrooms, immerse them in water twice. Take them out immediately and wipe dry with paper towels. |
| 8. | Cut the largest into two or three pieces and slice any porcini, if using. |
| 9. | Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan with the garlic and rosemary. |
| 10. | Add the mushrooms in batches and cook on high heat, without stirring, until the mushrooms have released their water. |
| 11. | Season with salt and pepper and set aside. |
| 12. | Combine all the mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes on low heat. |
| 13. | Check the seasoning. Serve on the hot polenta. |
| 14. | VARIATIONS |
| 15. | You can make a richer polenta by replacing half the water with milk, or by adding mascarpone cheese, or butter and parmesan cheese at the end of the cooking time. |
Images and text from
Venice Cult Recipes
(mini) by Laura Zavan,
photography by
Grégoire Kalt. Murdoch
Books, RRP $32.99.