Creamy polenta is topped with a wild mushroom that’s ragú cooked up in an herbed red wine tomato sauce to make this irresistible vegan bowl of coziness! The perfect meal for a chilly fall evening.
My mom’s side of the family is Italian. I went vegetarian at thirteen. This could be really good or really bad. On a good day growing up, there were personal lasagnas loaded with veggies, or even my very own batch of eggplant meatballs. On a bad day, it meant the meatballs (and not the eggplant kind) were cooked in the sauce, and me dining on plain noodles.
I recently was given a review copy of Fresh Italian Cooking for the New Generation by Alexandra Caspero Lenz of the blog Delish Knowledge. Upon cracking it open, my first thought was this: if only I could travel back in time and hand my thirteen year old self a copy of this, a lot of dinnertime woes could’ve been avoided.
Okay, so I’ve actually been sitting on this book, and this particular recipe from the book, for a month or so, not because I wasn’t excited to share it, but because the mushroom ragú is serious comfort food, and I wasn’t sure you guys would be up for that in the middle of August. While there are plenty of recipes that are totally doable for summertime dinners (check out Balsamic and Basil Pasta Salad, Rainbow Peppers with Capellini, or Mediterranean Zucchini Linguine if we hit a few more hot days), I couldn’t resist the idea of juicy wild mushroom sauce over a cozy bed of polenta, regardless of the weather. My instinct was right, because this dish was killer.
Everything in the book sounds good to me though. Italian food has so much potential when it comes to plant-based eating, and Alex makes the most of that potential, swapping out meat for healthy ingredients that totally make sense and are way delicious (like mushrooms!). The book has 100 recipes, all vegetarian, and all much healthier than anything I ate growing up (even after going veg). Of those 100 recipes, over 70 are vegan or include vegan modifications, which are generally as simple as using vegan Parmesan cheese or cashew cream, both of which have recipes conveniently provided towards the back of the book.
Wild Mushroom Ragú with Creamy Polenta
Ingredients
Wild Mushroom Ragú
- 1/3 cup 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cups 280 g mixed wild mushrooms, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 cup 120 ml tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup 60 ml red wine
- 1/2 cup 120 ml vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp 15 g non-dairy butter
- 1/8 cup 15 g fresh parsley leaves, chopped
Creamy Polenta
- 1 cup 240 ml vegetable broth
- 3 cups 709 ml soy milk
- 1 cup 170 g cornmeal
- 3 tbsp 40 g non-dairy butter
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes until reduced and caramelized, stirring only a few times. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic, shallot, rosemary and oregano, and cook for 5 more minutes. Add tomato sauce and red wine, stir and cook an additional 5 minutes more while you prepare the polenta.
- In a separate saucepan, heat the broth and milk over medium heat. When bubbles start to surface, gently whisk in cornmeal and stir together. Reduce heat to low and let cook until thick, stirring often, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in non-dairy butter and a pinch each of salt and pepper.
- While the polenta is simmering, finish the ragú. Add the vegetable broth to the mushroom sauce, reduce heat to low and simmer until polenta is done cooking. Remove the ragú from heat and whisk in 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter. Garnish with parsley.
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