Homemade Marinara and Creamy Polenta
Polenta can be intimidating. It requires time and attention and if you don't give it the love it needs, it can turn lumpy or get too thick. But it's integral to the food of northern Italy and if you want to explore the world of Italian cuisine you'll keep coming up against it.
At its heart, polenta is a cornmeal porridge cooked in water, broth, or milk and it's hearty, creamy, and comforting. It's a great bed to serve a tomato-y sauce with, like we do here. It's also wonderful topped with mushrooms, butternut squash, or rich, silky, braised short ribs.
Enjoy polenta warm on the day you make it, then let it cool overnight. Once it's cooled it can be cut into squares and toasted, grilled, or topped with a slice of cheese and broiled.
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 medium sized sweet onion, chopped
- 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons California Roasted Minced Garlic, to taste
- 1/2 bell pepper, any color, seeded and chopped into a half-inch dice
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons Spaghetti Seasoning
- 12 ounces lean ground turkey or turkey sausage
- 3-4 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 1 5.5 ounce can tomato juice
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 pinch of Coarse Sea Salt
- 1/2 cup polenta or cornmeal - not the quick cooking kind
- In a dutch oven or large saucepan with a lid, heat olive oil to medium high heat
- Add onions, California Roasted Minced Garlic, and peppers. Stir frequently until vegetables are soft and onions are translucent.
- Add tomato paste and Spaghetti Seasoning and continue stirring about another minute, until tomato paste and spices are well incorporated into the vegetable mixture
- Add the ground turkey to the spice and vegetable mixture, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon and stirring to combine. Continue cooking until meat is browned and cooked through.
- Add chopped tomatoes and tomato juice, stir to combine, then reduce heat to low and cover sauce
While sauce is cooking you can make the polenta.
- Bring water and salt to a boil in a medium-size heavy sauce pan over high heat.
- Pour cornmeal slowly into water while stirring with a wire whisk or wooden spoon.
- Continue stirring as mixture starts to thicken, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Turn heat to low. Cook for at least 45 minutes, stirring at regular 5-minute intervals.
- You can cover the pan if you want to prevent mixture from splattering while it is cooking.
- If polenta becomes too thick to stir, thin it with an additional 1/2 cup water. Stir well and continue cooking. Polenta is done when it is smooth and creamy and cornmeal is soft. There should be no hardness to it at all.
- Spoon even amounts of warm polenta into 4 serving bowls, making a well in the center.
- Spoon marinara sauce into the center of the polenta and garnish with fresh basil, parsley, or Parmesan cheese.
- Serve immediately.