BAKED MUSHROOM POLENTA WITH A BEEF STEW
Polenta is one of those simple foods that our grandmothers used to cook all the time but have somehow fallen off our modern-day menus. Aside from being very quick to cook it is also super versatile as it can be made as a morning porridge, made into a loaf or in this case - baked and served together with a delicious stew.
Preparation time: 30 min
Ingredients for 4-5 servings
For baked polenta:
3.5 cups of almond milk (or other plant-based milk or water)
1 cup of polenta
4 button mushrooms
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of oregano
¼ teaspoon of basil
For the stew:
- 400g of ground beef (you can also leave the beef out and make a purely vegetable stew if you prefer)
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 courgette
- 1 cup of broccoli
- 1 red or yellow pepper
- 1 medium aubergine
- 1 cup of tomato puree
- 2 cups of water
- 1/4 teaspoon of rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon of thyme
- salt
- pepper
- raw virgin coconut oil
How to make it
Polenta:
Pour almond milk into a cooking pot. Add mushrooms cut into small pieces, salt, oregano and basil. Slowly bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and gradually add in polenta, whisking constantly until there are no lumps. Continue to simmer and stir often until polenta starts to thicken (about 5 min, depending on the polenta type) and the individual grains become tender.
Transfer polenta mix into a greased baking dish and bake at 200 C for 15 min or until golden.
The stew
In a large pan / pot heat up the coconut oil, add chopped onion and fry for 1 minute. Add the beef and cook at medium temperature until the meat is brown on both sides.
Pour in the tomato puree and water and bring to boil. Add in cubed carrots and simmer for 5 min.
Mix in all other vegetables that you have pre-cut into medium cubes and add finely chopped garlic, rosemary, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 15 min.
Cool down and serve with baked polenta cut into squares or triangles.
