This is so filling and it makes a lovely vegetarian main meal, but it also works perfectly with roasted chicken or braised beef.
Recipe by Illanique van Aswegen
Photograph by Adel Ferreira
Creamy blue-cheese polenta with sautéed kale, butterbeans and mushrooms
Ingredients
CREAMY BLUE-CHEESE POLENTA
- 500ml (2 cups) vegetable stock
- 500ml (2 cups) full-cream milk
- 185g polenta
- 30g butter
- 125ml (½ cup) fresh cream
- 50g Parmesan, finely grated
- 150g blue cheese, crumbled + extra, to garnish
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
SAUTÉED VEGETABLES
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 250g mushrooms, quartered
- 1 tbsp garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped + extra whole leaves, to garnish
- 180g kale, chopped
- 1 x 410g tin butterbeans, drained
Instructions
For the polenta, place the stock and milk in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add the polenta and whisk vigorously to combine. Cover and cook, whisking regularly, 15 – 18 minutes. Stir in the remaining polenta ingredients and season to taste. Remove from heat.
For the sautéed vegetables, heat the oil in a frying pan until hot. Add the mushrooms and fry for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, sage and kale and fry until the kale is tender and wilted, 5 minutes. Stir in the beans and season to taste.
Serve the polenta topped with the vegetables. Crumble over some blue cheese and garnish with fresh sage.
Notes
If you don’t enjoy blue cheese, try a milder cheese like ricotta or feta. Otherwise, 150g Parmesan or Gruyère used on their own will also work.
