Recipe Mon Apr 27 2009

Polenta with Spinach, Garlic and Tempeh

Polenta goes brilliantly with spinach. Think of it as thick porridge. You can make it extra savory by cooking cornmeal in salted vegetable stock instead of simple water. I had thought it would take 4 cups of liquid to 1 cup of cornmeal for the polenta, but an extra cup of water was needed to soften it up and take the grittiness out. A few friends and I were sautéing onion, shallot, garlic, crimini mushrooms and jalapeño until tender, and then added that to the polenta once the polenta was soft, finishing with golden pan-fried crispy tempeh and spinach.

To get the polenta going, bring the stock to boil, slowly whisk in cornmeal, reduce the heat to simmer, and cover until soft. Stir when the cornmeal sticks to the pan, which will happen more frequently toward the end. If the stock absorbs before the cornmeal finishes softening, add a bit of water. We added our sauté at the end.

We had also sliced tempeh into thin strips, and then across into smaller pieces. We had marinated the pieces for an hour or so in a mix of fresh-squeezed lemon juice, soy sauce, Co-op Image hot sauce, and a dash of maple syrup. As the polenta was cooking, we pan-fried the tempeh in a hot, lightly oiled pan until the tempeh turned a bit golden. I deglazed the pan with a splash from an open bottle of beer. We cooked the other side of the tempeh, and then mixed it into the polenta, timing it so they finished at just about the same time. If the polenta finishes early, turn off the heat and cover while finishing the tempeh.

The spinach went into the soft polenta just after the tempeh. It just needs a moment to soften. We also added a very fine grating of fresh galangal, for a little extra fragrance, just for fun because we had some nearby.

— Chris Brunn / Comments (0)