It wasn't until recently that I started experiencing polenta, the cornmeal-based staple from northern Italy they use in the place of the pasta that's more familiar to us Americans. it being something different, I decided to start exploring it. It's similar to grits but is more flavorful. This dish was inspired by a breakfast I had at a restaurant in North Portland.
Preparation: about 30 mins. total
Cooking: 4 hours minimum
Servings: about 8
Est. cost: $18 to $20
Today's Specimen
← Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. pork shoulder
- 1 (8.5 oz.) can sun-dried tomatoes, pureed
- 1 (28 oz.) can tomato puree
- 3 cups portabella mushroom, large diced
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup poblano pepper, diced
- 1 tbsp. garlic, fine diced
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp. tarragon
- 1 tsp. rosemary
- 1 pinch (⅛ tsp.) allspice
- ¼ tsp. fennel seed
- ¼ tsp. white pepper
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450ºF at broil and rub the pork with 1 tbsp. olive oil until it's evenly coated on all sides.
- While waiting for the oven to preheat, in a medium saucepan or frying pan on medium heat in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil cook the onion, pepper, and garlic for ten minutes and set aside.
- Also while waiting for the oven to preheat, puree the sun-dried tomatoes — with the oil — in a food processor and set aside.
- After the oven is preheated place the pork roast on a baking pan — preferably nestled in a v-shaped rack placed on the baking pan — and cook at 450ºF for ten minutes then drop the oven temperature down to 300ºF (250ºF if you can set the temperature that low) and cook for an hour and a half (two hours if at 250ºF).
- When the pork is cooked trim the fat off the roast and cut into bite-size pieces, large dice.
- In a medium pot (min. 2½ qts. capacity) on medium heat combine the tomato puree, the pureed sun-dried tomatoes, the pork, the vegetables, the vinegar, the water, and the spices, and once the mixture starts to boil cover and drop down to a simmer and allow to simmer covered for at least a couple hours, stirring every half-hour or so.
← Polenta
Ingredients
- 3½ cups polenta
- 3½ tbsp. unsalted butter
- 4 tsp. salt
- 12 cups water
Directions
- In a medium pot on medium-high temperature bring the water to a roiling boil and reduce the temperature down to medium while stirring in the polenta and salt and butter into the water.
- Reduce the temperature to low and cook for about fifteen minutes, stirring every few minutes. Once the mixture thickens cover to allow the polenta to steam for fifteen minutes. Set aside.
Wrapping It Up
Necessary
- Asiago cheese, about 2 cups.
Serving
- Serve in bowls or on plates: a cup and a half of polenta topped with about a quarter cup of grated Asiago cheese, topped with about a cup of the sauce.
Next Time in the Lab
Hmm, I like the flavor of this, but I want to try something different — see if I'd prefer a sweet sauce, which this certainly isn't.
- Substitute a tablespoon of chicken base (the paste) for the salt in the polenta.
- Omit [i]ALL[/i] the spices in the sauce except the salt and fennel and substitute a couple teaspoons of parsley and a couple teaspoons of basil and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper.
- Substitute a tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar for the red wine vinegar.
- Substitute green bell pepper for the poblano pepper and increase to one-and-a-half cups.
- Increase the pork to two-and-a-third pounds so I get closer to two pounds of meat after trimming off the fat and gristle.
