Polenta With White Bean And Roasted Pepper Ragout Recipes

Steps:

• Bring broth and 2 cups water to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat; season with salt. Slowly add polenta, whisking constantly. Simmer, stirring frequently and reducing heat as needed, until thick and creamy, 20 to 25 minutes for regular, or about 5 minutes for quick-cooking. Remove from heat; cover.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat; swirl in oil. Add garlic, celery, and pepper flakes; cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in roasted peppers and beans; season with salt and pepper. Cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup water and bring to a simmer; cook, mashing some of beans to create a creamy sauce, until thickened slightly, about 2 minutes. Serve over polenta, drizzled with oil and sprinkled with celery leaves.

Steps:

• FOR THE POLENTA
• Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Sprinkle the cornmeal on top while mixing it in with a whisk, and stir in the salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid to prevent splattering, and cook gently for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the polenta is cooked and has the consistency of a creamy puree. Set aside, covered.
• FOR THE RAGOUT
• Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan. When they are hot, add the onion and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and sauté over high heat for about 2 minutes, until the liquid emerges from them and evaporates. Add the garlic, tomatoes, corn, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and bring to a strong boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
• To serve, ladle the polenta into the center of four soup plates and pour the mushroom ragout on top of and around it. Sprinkle with the chives and serve.

Steps:

• For the polenta:Coat a 8 in glass baking dish with cooking spray. In a large saucepan combine 2 cups water with broth, mustard and cayenne, bring to boiling. Reduce heat to medium and whisk in cornmeal. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, pour into baking dish, set aside to get firm.
• For the ragout: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut off and discard dark green top from the leek, cut it into 1 inch slices and put in a large bow. Add cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms and garlic, drizzle with oil and toss to coat. Spread vegetable in a large roasting pan. Roast for 8 minutes.
• Remove pan from oven and stir in corn and tomatoes. Put back in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Remove from oven and put vegeetables and juices in a large dutch oven.
• Put dutch oven over medium heat. Cook vegetables for 5-10 minutes or until thickened. Stir in basil, majoram and thyme.
• Meanwhile preheat broiler with top rack 4-6 inches from heat source. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Cut polenta into 12 squares and place on baking sheet. Broil 5-8 minutes or until lightly browned.
• To serve; place 2 polenta squares on each plate and top with ragout.

Steps:

• Halve leek lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. In a bowl of cold water wash leek well and with a slotted spoon transfer to a sieve to drain. Chop onion and cut bell pepper into 1-inch pieces. Mince garlic.
• In a 12-inch non-stick skillet cook leek, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and pepper is tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a bowl. Pat chicken dry and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick strips. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cut polenta into 3/4-inch cubes.
• In skillet heat remaining tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté chicken, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add polenta and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 minute.
• Stir in cooked vegetables, tomatoes, thyme, and parsley and simmer, stirring, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season ragout with salt and pepper.

Steps:

• To make the beans, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Fill a small saucepan with enough water to cover the garlic. When water boils add garlic and cook one minute. Drain and repeat this procedure three times -- it will eliminate the harshness and leave the flavor. Mash the garlic with garlic press; set aside.
• Lightly oil a roasting pan and place tomatoes in pan. Roast 10 to 15 minutes, turning once, until juice is released and skins have puckered. When tomatoes are ready, peel and add to pot large enough to hold all the ingredients for the beans.
• Add the garlic, sage, stock and beans. Simmer until mixture is thick and most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt if desired and pepper.
• To make the polenta meanwhile, boil water in small pot with the butter, milk and salt.
• When water boils, reduce heat slightly and slowly whisk in polenta. Reduce heat to very low and cook the polenta 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• To serve, spoon polenta into a shallow bowl or plate and spoon bean sauce over top.

Steps:

• Make the mushroom ragout:
• In a large deep skillet cook the onion, the garlic, and the rosemary in the oil over moderate heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, add the mushrooms and salt to taste, and cook the mixture over moderately high heat, stirring, for 10 minutes, or until the liquid the mushrooms give off is evaporated. Stir in the tomato paste and the wine and boil the mushroom mixture until most of the liquid is evaporated. In a small bowl stir the cornstarch into the broth, add the mixture and the Worcestershire sauce to the mushroom mixture, and bring the ragout to a boil, stirring. Simmer the ragout for 2 minutes and season it with salt and pepper.
• Make the polenta:
• In a large heavy saucepan bring the water with the oil to a boil and add 1 cup of the cornmeal, a little at a time, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low, add the remaining 1 cup cornmeal in a slow stream, stirring constantly, and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter, 2/3 cup of the Parmesan, the parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Spread one third of the polenta evenly in a buttered 13- by 9-inch baking dish and chill the polenta sheet for 20 minutes, or until it is firm. While the polenta is chilling, working quickly, spread half the remaining polenta in a buttered 3-quart shallow baking dish, top it with half the mushroom ragout, and top the ragout with the mozzarella. Spread the remaining polenta quickly over the mozzarella and top it with the remaining ragout.
• Invert the polenta sheet onto a work surface and with 1 or more star-shaped cutters cut out as many stars as possible. Arrange the stars decoratively on the ragout and sprinkle them with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan. The layered polenta may be prepared up to this point 2 days in advance and kept covered and chilled.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake the layered polenta in the upper third of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the polenta stars are golden.