This recipe for Polenta with Wild Mushrooms, Garlic and Sage is cozy and comforting, perfect for the cooler months of spring or fall, when wild mushrooms are ready for the picking.
This can be made with wild mushrooms like chanterelles or morels if you have access to them –or tame, store-bought mushrooms, like shiitake, miatake, portobello, cremini or even simple button mushrooms. Add cheese for extra richness or keep it vegan!
In late spring I seek out morels, and in fall, I opt for Chanterelles. Both grow wild here in the Pacific Northwest. Chanterelles live among the trees, in the dense and foggy forests of Douglas Firs and Western Hemlocks. Woody and earthy with a hint of fruitiness, their texture is meaty yet tender. Both morels and chanterelles are difficult to cultivate, so most of the fresh chanterelles and morels you see at farmers markets and grocery stores, truly are “wild”.
And this is what makes wild mushrooms so special. Somehow you can’t help but feel the woody forest they came from.
To me there is nothing more comforting than a bowl of mushroom polenta, no matter what the season.
For extra richness you could top it with a poached egg, or shaved parmesan.
How to cook wild mushrooms:
How to cook polenta:
Then taste for salt. Because cheeses have different saltiness, the amount of salt you will need will vary. If you used a flavorful stock you may not even need much salt. But most likely you will need a little.
And here is a lovely ingredient that will elevate your polenta. White Pepper!
Polenta with Wild Mushrooms, Garlic and Sage
Polenta with Wild Mushrooms, Garlic and Sage. A simple EASY dinner that can be made in under 30 minutes. Comfort food that is healthy, vegan adaptable and gluten-free! |
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 2-3 1x
- Category: Vegetarian Main, gluten-free,
- Method: stove-top
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
Polenta
- 4 ½ c veggie or chicken stock ( or sub water with 1 tsp salt, or sub 2 cups of the stock with milk)
- 1 cup polenta ( ground corn meal)
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- optional -1/2 cup cheese ( goat cheese, white cheddar, parmesan, romano) or leave it out!
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- salt to taste
- 1/ 2 teaspoon Truffle oil ( optional)
Mushrooms
- 2 cups wild mushrooms (chanterelles or morels) or sub button mushrooms, cremini, miatake, shittake or portobellos)
- 1–2 T oil or butter
- 1 shallot, diced
- 2–3 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 1 T fresh sage ( or sub rosemary or thyme)
- finishing salt
- Garnish- drizzle of truffle oil ( optional- but worth it! )
Instructions
- To make the creamy polenta, heat 4 1/2 Cups of flavorful stock (or salted water or use part milk) in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, turn heat down to low or off to avoid getting splattered. Gradually add 1 C polenta to the hot liqud while whisking vigorously to avoid any clumping. Cover and let cook on very low heat for 20 mins before adding any “fats”. Somehow this allows the polenta to “open up” . If you are using a course polenta you could cook longer. You could even cover the pot and stick in a 350F oven for 45 min-1 hour. You can stir every 5- 10 minutes if you want, but I normally just cover it leave it without a stir and it is just fine.
- When the polenta has cooked, then add your choice of olive oil, or butter, optional cheese, white pepper, and adjust for salt.
- To cook the mushrooms, heat oil over med heat, add shallots, garlic and mushrooms, cook 6-7 minutes until mushrooms release their liquid, lowering heat if necessary. Add the sage leaves right at the end and cook for on minute. Season with salt and white pepper.
- Serve atop your bed of delicious creamy polenta.
- Drizzle with Truffle oil if you want.
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Congratulations on your exciting news! I LITERALLY just read this recipe in my Cook’s Illustrated and am planning to make it today. What a coincidence when I then saw it on your site!
Lovely post, but there are lots of chanterelles in across the country. Here in Maine we picked three pounds yesterday in 90 minutes (plus king boletes and hedgehog mushrooms). And remember…a friend never lets a friend use truffle oil. Especially on delicate chanterelles. Other than that, your recipe looks spot-on. With yesterday’s schrooms all cleaned, and the garden full of sage, you helped me find tonights dinner. And I loved the info on white pepper. Thanks.
Lovely post Sylvia but I have a few comments to share. First, chanterelles can be found from coast to coast. We spent twenty years picking them in the pacific northwest and recently decided to retire in Maine. Yesterday, here in Maine, we picked three pounds of chanterelles, a half pound of hedgehog mushrooms (a type of chanterelle) and a few lovely king boletes. And in Maine, mid-September is late for chanterelles. They can by found in early July and through the summer months. And I question anyone ever using truffle oil. Most chefs think it should be banned from the planet as there are more terrible ones out there than good. Also, it’s flavor can greatly overpower the lovely floral apricot scent of the chanterelles. Your recipe is spot-on and keep the truffle oil away from this dish where the star should be the chanterelle. Thanks for the post and terrific pictures.
Beautiful post! Chanterelles and sage sounds heavenly.
thank you Adam!
Confession: I’ve never cooked polenta, ever. But seeing this recipe, so wonderfully uncomplicated yet delicious, made me realise I HAVE to try polenta. So tomorrow is polenta-day 🙂
You are going to LOVE it!
i just bought my first bag of chanterelles and this sounds like the perfect recipe! Thanks for the vegan options for polenta too 🙂