• Truffled Polenta with Taleggio and Morels

    January 23, 2009

    Posted in: The Recipes

    This is a side dish which preserves the inherent hominess of polenta while imbuing it with more refined flavors. Truffles are best showcased by blander starch carriers, such as potatoes and pasta, and by eggs. Polenta is the only unrefined starch I’ve yet tried that will carry the heady flavors of the truffle without obscuring them. This recipe came about as an exploration of polenta, and a desire to use truffles in a more healthful manner during an evening meal (eggs are fine and well, scrumptious really, but they don’t accompany steak with particular grace.) Taleggio is an Italian cow’s milk cheese aged in moldy cellars. It’s thus an especially pungent cheese, redolent of, well…fungus. However,  it’s surprisingly delicate in taste.

    Serve this polenta with steak or pork, or as the main attraction of a vegetarian meal. Oddly, I really like it cold, too, for lunch the next day. It’s also well suited to being spread on a bakign sheet, cooled until firm, and then roasted and cut into squares or neat little triangles.

    Ingredients, for 6:

    • 2 cups polenta, not instant or quick cooking. I like Bob’s Red Mill organic.
    • 5 cups water
    • 3 oz taleggio, rind removed and roughly cubed
    • A  large handful of dried morels, rehydrated according to instructions and not-t00-roughly chopped
    • 2 T truffle oil (I use black, but you could try it with white,) or more to taste, if desired
    • 1/4 Parmesan, freshly grated
    • Salt and pepper

    Procedure:

    1. Revive the morels as prescribed by their instructions, making sure to rinse the recuscitated mushrooms before adding them to the polenta.
    2. Bring the water to  boil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Whisk the polenta in a slow and steady stream. Lower the heat to a simmer, still whisking the polenta. Once the mixture has settled at a simmer, stop stirring. Stir only occasionally, to prevent the polenta from sticking, and to check the level of water. Add water if it’s necessary: polenta made with more water will be softer and runnier, more like porridge, while polenta made with less moisture will be heartier, and have more character. The entire process of  cooking should take ony 20-30 minutes.
    3. Turn off the heat, leaving the pot on the stove, and add the chopped morels and taleggio. Taste for seasoning, and salt and pepper as desired, keeping in mind that a final dose of saltiness will be added with the parmesan.
    4. Stir the polenta a few times, to distribute the morels and melt the cheese.
    5. The addition of the taleggio will cause the polenta to become runnier. As the mixture cools to a bit, it will set up.
    6. When the polenta is warm, add the truffle oil and half the parmesan. Taste for seasoning.
    7. Serve sprinkled liberally with more parmesan.

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