Baked Wild Mushroom Polenta is a modern British recipe (based on an Italian original) for a classic baked dish of a mushroom sauce base topped with polenta slices and finished with grated and sliced cheeses. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Baked Wild Mushroom Polenta.
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This is a classic winter warmer of a dish from Northern Italy. The recipe uses mixed wild mushrooms but can also be prepared with ceps (penny buns) or any Agaricus (filed mushrooms and allies) species, including farmed mushrooms.
Ingredients:
400g coarse-ground polenta
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
60g unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing)
450g mixed wild mushrooms, sliced
60g plain flour (preferably Italian type ‘00’)
750ml whole milk
1 tbsp truffle paste
120g Italian Fontina cheese, sliced thinly
120g Gruyère cheese, sliced thinly
60g Parmesan cheese, grated
Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 200C.
Pour 1.5l hot water into a large saucepan. Add the polenta and a teaspoon of salt, stirring constantly as you add to prevent lumps. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Take off the heat then spoon the polenta into a buttered shallow oven dish. Cover with a sheet of buttered foil then transfer to your pre-heated oven and bake for 60 minutes. At the end of this time, remove from the oven then set aside to cool for 2 hours before cutting the polenta into 12.5mm wide slices.
In the meantime, prepare the mushroom sauce. Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan, add the wild mushroom slices and fry for 10 minutes.
Scatter the flour and stir into the mushrooms, cooking for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Take off the heat then gradually work in the milk. Season to taste, bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes before mixing in the truffle paste.
Spread 2 tbsp of the sauce over the base of a buttered 25cm rectangular oven-proof dish. Cover with slices of the cold polenta followed by slices of Fontina and Gruyère cheese. Sprinkle with the grated Parmesan.
Repeat the layering, finishing with the sauce, until all the ingredients are used up. Transfer to the centre of your pre-heated oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Serve hot.
