| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 35 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 20 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1-ounce dried porcini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
- 1 quart chicken stock, divided
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 red onion, chopped, chopped into bite sized pieces
- 1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 to 4 celery stalks, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 cubanelle peppers, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped into bite sized pieces
- 2 eggplants, peeled of half the skin, cut into bite-sized cubes
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano)
- 1 cup milk
- Handful golen raisins
- 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped
- 1 cup quick cooking polenta-
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano
Instructions
- Place dried mushrooms and 2 cups chicken stock in a small pot over medium-low heat.
- Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a Dutch oven or high sided skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add garlic, crushed pepper, onions, carrots, celery, peppers, and eggplant to the pot as you chop them. Add the bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and cover the pot to sweat the vegetables out a little faster. Stir occasionally for 10 to 12 minutes then uncover and add the balsamic vinegar.
- Remove the reconstituted dried mushrooms to the pot with a slotted spoon. Pour in all but the last few tablespoons of mushroom stock. The last of the stock can hold a little loose grit from the dried mushrooms. Add tomatoes and break up with a wooden spoon. Simmer over low heat the last few minutes before serving. Adjust salt and pepper.
- Heat the remaining 2 cups stock with 1 cup milk, golden raisins and rosemary over medium high heat. Whisk in polenta and stir 3 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in honey, butter and cheese.
- Pile some polenta in shallow bowls and spoon the stew around the polenta.;
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 510 |
| Total Fat | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 69 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 13 g |
| Sugar | 30 g |
| Protein | 17 g |
| Cholesterol | 27 mg |
| Sodium | 1656 mg |
Reviews
Delicious comfort food, easy to make. My family loved it. I skipped the mushroom part. Polenta adds a good contrast to it
This is absolutely delicious. I have made it a few times and my family loves it. The only problem is when I search for it, it never seems to come up easily on the site! Need to remind myself to type in “eggplant stew” and not just eggplant.
I made this recipe vegan by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, agave syrup instead of honey, natural balance instead of butter, and excluded the cheese. Excellent!
The stew gets three stars and the polenta gets five stars. I had an extra serving of the polenta for dessert because it’s seriously THAT good. I don’t do cow diary so the only subs I made were goat milk, duck fat, and pecorino.
This was a big hit at our table. We like thinks hot so I added more pepper flakes and didn’t add the vinegar. I served it with brown rice. Delish!
I loved this recipe and will definitely make it again.. It was terrific but I felt that it was a little to spicy. Next time I will put in half of the recommended crushed red peeper flakes.
This recipe is ok. I love eggplant. It is my favorite vegetable. I live how the vegetables tasted. I di not put mushrooms because I do not like them. Next time I wont put vinegar.
I absolutly loved this dish! Instead of cooking the polenta, I served the stew over rice, I’m asian, i can’t help it. But it was still AMAZING!! Definitily cooking this again 🙂
Have made this several times and everyone loves it. If cubanellle peppers are not available, I use any other semi hot pepper, like jalapeno or poblano. I’m not fast in the kitchen so I prep several veggies first and then start. It does make a lot and is great as leftovers, which I don’t usually like. The polenta is just a perfect counter to this stew. Love, love, love it! Rachael makes a home cook come off like a chef!
This was a great Recipes- thanks to Rachel Ray again fro such a GREAT, special, refreshing, cultural, unique dinnertime recipe!-so warm and hearty. Sure, her recipes are a bit ‘involved’/lengthy (this one is no exception, LOTS of ingredients here..) BUT they are always so rewarding and it’s all worth it in the end. This one was actually quite fun to make- I FELT like a FULL BLOODED ITALIAN making this dish!-the aromas were so pleasant and heavenly! This is one of those great ‘stoup’ style recipes of hers where “the longer it sits, the better it gets!””: The day after I had made this stew, I had it in the fridge and I tried a bit of it cold, right out of the fridge rather like a GAZPACHO and it was just as delicious! So this versatile recipe is really ideal for the winter, but is also perfect for the SUMMER too-I’ll certainly be making it in the summer and serving it cold, ‘gazpacho-styled’! (I would recommend others try this too, if they are curious…)try it, people! ITS GREAT