Fennel Polenta Recipes

Steps:

• Whisk the lemon juice and mustard in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in the olive oil until smooth. Add the tomatoes and sliced fennel and toss. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.
• Preheat a grill to medium high and brush the grates with olive oil. Season the salmon on both sides with the ground fennel, salt and pepper. Brush the polenta rounds with olive oil. Grill the salmon and polenta until well marked and the salmon is just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Meanwhile, grill the lemon halves cut-side down until marked, about 3 minutes.
• Add the fennel fronds and basil to the fennel salad; toss. Serve the salmon with the polenta, fennel salad and grilled lemons.

Steps:

• Make the polenta: Bring 8 cups salted water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Whisk in polenta, continuing to whisk as mixture begins to thicken, about 1 minute. Turn heat to low and let polenta cook slowly, whisking every few minutes for about 10 minutes. Turn heat to very low and continue to cook for least 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. If polenta gets too thick to stir easily, add a bit of water to obtain a porridge-like consistency. (When finished, there should be no raw cornmeal flavor.) Taste a cooled spoonful, then correct seasoning with salt and pepper. Turn off heat, whisk in butter and keep warm.
• Meanwhile, prepare the topping: Heat olive oil in a large, wide skillet over medium-high heat. When oil shimmers, add shrimp in one layer and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, until lightly browned. Using tongs, turn shrimp over, season and cook for 30 seconds more. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. (Shrimp will not be fully cooked.)
• Add onion to pan and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add sausage meat and cook, mashing with a large spoon to let sausage crumble into rough half-inch pieces. Continue cooking for 5 to 6 minutes, until mixture is lightly browned. Stir in garlic, red-pepper flakes and rosemary, and cook for 1 minute more.
• Add wine and tomato purée. Simmer for 1 minute and stir in crème fraîche. Turn off heat and check seasoning. Warm a large serving platter. In a small bowl, mix together scallions, capers, parsley and lemon zest.
• To finish, turn heat to high. Add reserved shrimp to sausage mixture and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, until shrimp are cooked through and sauce has thickened slightly.
• Mound polenta into middle of platter. Spoon shrimp and sauce around polenta. Sprinkle with scallion mixture and serve. (Alternatively, place a large spoonful of polenta into individual plates or soup bowls and top with shrimp and sauce.)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Place the fennel bulbs and water in a roasting pan on the lowest rack of the oven, roast about one hour, until very tender. Remove and allow to cool slightly. Chop coarsely, place in a food processor with two tablespoons of the milk and process until smooth. Set aside.
• In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk, the stock, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a simmer. Slowly whisk in the cornmeal. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick enough to allow the spoon to stand up in it, about 15 minutes. Stir in the fennel puree, the chopped fennel greens and the butter. Adjust seasonings.
• Line a baking pan 9 by 13 inches with parchment paper. Spread the polenta in the pan, smooth the surface and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for four hours, until firm.
• Cut the polenta into three-inch squares. Invert the pan to unmold them, then refrigerate them until ready to cook. Reheat the polenta by sauteing it in butter in a nonstick skillet or brushing it with butter or oil and grilling or broiling the squares until they are lightly browned and heated through. Keep in a warm oven until all the squares are browned, then serve.

Steps:

• Wash and trim the top branches and the bottom from the fennel. Slice the fennel bulb very thinly into rounds, and then slice the rounds into julienne strips.
• Heat a medium-large nonstick skillet until it is very hot; add oil, reduce heat and stir in the fennel, cooking until fennel begins to brown and soften.
• Wash, trim, seed and thinly slice the peppers, and cut slices into small pieces; add to fennel, and continue to saute over medium heat.
• Wash, trim and cut up tomatoes; add to vegetables when peppers have begun to soften.
• Pit and cut up olives, and add. Cover the pot; reduce heat to simmer, and continue to cook until the vegetables are tender.
• In covered pot, boil stock.
• Grate cheese.
• Slowly stir polenta into boiling stock, reduce heat to medium-high and cook until mixture thickens, just a couple of minutes.
• When polenta is cooked, stir in the cheese, season with salt and pepper, and top with the vegetables.

Steps:

• Reheat polenta. Mix in cheese, oxtail and scallions. Check for seasoning. Mold in baking dish so polenta is at least 1-inch thick. Refrigerate overnight. Cut squares or circles and grill until hot. Can also saute in nonstick pan. Serve warm on top of fennel salad. Garnish with dark vinegar syrup and fennel sprigs.
• Mix all in large bowl. Check for seasoning.

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the EVOO. Add the sausage, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon, and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the red onions, fennel, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes, or until the veggies wilt and the onions become translucent. While the veggies are cooking, start the polenta.
• In a sauce pot combine 2 1/2 cups of the chicken stock and 1 cup of milk. Season the liquid with salt and pepper. Place over medium-high heat and bring up to a simmer.
• Once the veggies have wilted, add the white wine and the remaining 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock to the skillet. Turn the heat to high and bring up to a simmer. Cook to reduce the liquids by half, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley.
• To the simmering chicken stock and milk add the polenta and whisk constantly until the cornmeal masses together. It's so cool how fast this happens-right before your eyes! Add the butter and grated cheese, stirring to combine. Keep in mind that polenta is very forgiving; if it becomes too thick, you can always add more warm chicken stock or milk.
• Serve the polenta in a shallow bowl and top with a helping of the sausage and fennel ragout. Garnish with more grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
• Buy stock or broth in aseptic boxes rather than cans. They might cost a little more, but the stocks especially have great slow-cooked flavor that really makes fast-cooked food taste rich. Plus, whatever you don't use can go directly into the refrigerator, without having to transfer it from a can. If I know I am not going to use my remaining stock within the next few days, I will transfer it to a resealable plastic bag and freeze it flat. (I have had a small revolution of freezer storage space since embracing the freezing of things flat.)