Creamy Vegan Polenta with Mushroom Ragù

No idea why, but we rarely eat polenta. No wonder that this is our first polenta recipe on the blog. But polenta is actually a great alternative to pasta, rice or potatoes. Polenta can actually be combined with everything. We serve our creamy vegan polenta with mushroom ragù. A humble but tasty combination.

Polenta has its roots in Italy and is especially in the northern regions extremely popular. There, the corn semolina comes on the table for example as a first main course (primo) or as a side dish. Polenta is either served directly stirred to a creamy consistency, although the consistency can range from rather liquid to thick. Or you let it cool down, cut it into slices or strips and then fry it until crispy.

Today we will show you a version of the creamy polenta, which gets a special taste through the use of almond milk, garlic, nutritional yeast and optionally some truffle oil. On top we serve a mushroom mixture, which is first flavoured with white wine and thyme and finally allowed to take a bath in vegan cream. Creamy polenta. Creamy mushroom ragù. We like!

Ingredients for 2 servings (about 2,75 Euros each):

MUSHROOM RAGÙ

450 g mushrooms, white & brown mixed
1 tbsp fresh thyme + some extra
200 ml vegan cream, e.g. oat cream
1 shallot
50 ml white wine
1 splash olive oil
salt + pepper

POLENTA

120 g polenta
350 ml almond milk
300 ml water
1 garlic clove
1 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
salt + pepper
optional: 1 tsp truffle oil

Preparation
1. Halve the garlic clove. Heat together with almond milk and water in a saucepan to release the garlic flavor. Do not bring to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, clean the mushrooms and cut them into pieces of different sizes with the knife. Finely chop the shallot. Finely chop the thyme as well.

3. Remove the garlic from the water-almond milk mixture and finely chop for later use. Stir in the polenta, season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil briefly and simmer for about 20 minutes at low temperature. Keep stirring. Should the polenta become too firm or grainy, just stir in another dash of water.

4. Fry the mushrooms at high temperature with a little olive oil in a large pan. After about 1-2 minutes, add onions and garlic and fry briefly. Add chopped thyme, deglaze with white wine and let it cook away. Now add the cream, season with salt and pepper and let everything reduce briefly.

5. Season the polenta with nutritional yeast and truffle oil (optional). Serve with the mushroom ragù and some fresh thyme leaves sprinkled on top.