Brown-Butter Polenta with Sausage and Mushroom Ragu

butter

🥗Healthier: olive oil

💰Cheaper: margarine

Olive oil reduces saturated fat while maintaining flavor.

parmesan cheese

🥗Healthier: nutritional yeast

💰Cheaper: grated pecorino

Nutritional yeast is lower in calories and adds a cheesy flavor.

Brown fresh mushrooms in a pan until meaty.

Add fine chopped celery and onion to the pan.

Grate in garlic and season with salt and black pepper.

Deglaze the pan with a splash of cherry.

Add porini stock and hand crushed San Marzano tomatoes to the pan.

Let the tomatoes cook out with the sausage and mushroom mixture.

For the polenta, use a quick cooking polenta that takes about 2 to 3 minutes.

Combine a 1 to 3 ratio of simmering liquid (3 cups) to quick cooking polenta (1 cup).

Crank the heat up and cook the polenta until it firms up, about 3 minutes.

Finish the polenta with brown butter instead of regular butter, adding sage when the butter is nutty and fragrant.

Remove crispy sage leaves from the brown butter and set aside.

Add black pepper, salt, nutmeg, and crumbled crispy sage leaves to the polenta.

Mix in a generous handful of grated parmesan cheese to the polenta.

Serve the polenta in a bowl, creating a well in the middle for the sausage and mushroom ragu.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens