| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 3 hr 10 min |
| Active: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 6 cups chicken stock, plus more if needed
- 2 1/2 cups coarse polenta
- Salt and coarse black pepper
- Salt and coarse black pepper
- 6 tablespoons butter, plus more for dotting casserole
- 1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (a couple of handfuls)
- About 1/3 cup EVOO
- 1 1/2 pounds cremini or white mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup dry white wine or 1/4 cup Marsala or sherry
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- Freshly grated nutmeg, as needed
- 1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Instructions
- Heat 5 cups of the chicken stock in a saucepot to a low boil; add the polenta and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook, stirring and adding more stock as needed to keep the mixture loose, until thickened and soft, 40 to 45 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the butter, pour the polenta onto nonstick baking sheets (1 large or 2 small), spread into a 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick even layer and cool totally. Cut into rectangular shapes to easily remove for layering.
- Cover the dried porcinis with the remaining 1 cup chicken stock and 1/2 cup water in a small pot; bring to a simmer and cook to reconstitute. Remove the tender mushrooms and chop. Reserve the mushrooms and their liquid.
- Heat the EVOO in a large, deep skillet. Add the fresh mushrooms and cook until dark and tender, about 15 minutes. Add the thyme and shallots, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes. Deglaze the skillet with the wine. Add the stock and porcinis with some of their liquid (be careful to avoid any grit) and reduce the heat to low.
- To make the bechamel, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a saucepot, add the garlic and swirl a minute or two. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook until thickened. Add half of the cheese.
- Place a layer of the polenta in a medium casserole dish and top with half of the mushrooms and bechamel. Repeat the layers, and then end with a layer of polenta. Dot with butter and top with the remaining cheese.
- Cool and store for a make-ahead meal, or bake to serve. Bake at 375 degrees F from room temperature until brown, bubbling and hot through, about 50 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 839 |
| Total Fat | 41 g |
| Saturated Fat | 18 g |
| Carbohydrates | 83 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 14 g |
| Protein | 33 g |
| Cholesterol | 73 mg |
| Sodium | 1480 mg |
Reviews
Great dish, very rich, but really good and filling. I couldn’t stop eating the mushrooms or the polenta as I was cooking. The layers didn’t stay together very well (see FN photo above). I halved the recipe and it still turned out awesome. A great dish for meatless Monday! Thanks Rachel.
I loved this recipe. Made it on Christmas Eve and served it Christmas Day and everyone loved it! Nobody in my family had polenta before and it was great! We had only a few squares left. Definitely going to make this again. I used whatever mushrooms we liked. And for the bechamel sauce you can use whatever you like but for the top I used Parmesan. Made my own polenta and was sore all Xmas day but a great workout! I think this would be great to make with sausage too if you don’t like so much mushroom.
This dish was fantastic. I have never heard my wife say yummo so many times. I used white, cremini and porcini mushrooms and it was perfect. I also used three minute polenta and it worked fine. Other than that I would not try to tweak this recipe. Thank you for another great recipe. We still have some left and my wife is asking me to get ready to make it again.
I’m going on my third time making this recipe. Very good recipe. I found prepared polenta in both Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. It comes in a “tube” and it’s only $1.99 for 18 ounces. So here’s my thoughts: Totally worth it to save the time and buy the prepared polenta. For added flavor, brush the polenta with a little olive oil and put it under the broiler for a few minutes. It brings out a lot more flavor. You can even do this a day ahead if you want. Don’t spend a lot of money on fancy mushrooms. (I did this the first time.) Simple regular white or brown mushrooms end up tasting just as good. Now, about the cheese. I used Parmesan the first time. Then a mixture of Gruyere, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and a little Mozzarella the second time. (I was cleaning out my cheese drawer!) The funny thing about this recipe is nobody at our Christmas dinner knew what exactly they were eating! Nobody could figure it out. I mentioned that it was a vegetarian dish, but that’s all I said!