Elevate your Thanksgiving table with this simple polenta dish

This simple recipe is a marriage of two even simpler foods, that add up to one flavorful appetizer, main dish or side. This would be welcome any time from breakfast to lunch to dinner, and also a nice entertaining idea. And they would be a great addition to a Thanksgiving table, a cheery little side dish, or a center of the plate offering for the vegetarians in the house.

Precooked Polenta in Tubes

While you can make polenta from scratch, spread it out to cool, cut it into shapes, that’s awfully time consuming. I prefer to start with packaged cooked polenta. It is available in tubes, sometimes available in the refrigerated section (look near the tofu), and also in the pasta aisle. Many brands don’t need refrigeration until you open them, so check both places. I love Melissa’s shelf-stable organic prepared polenta in tubes, which is available in plain, sundried tomato, and Italian herb. It’s quite the time saver!

This polenta then gets sliced and griddled up in a pan on the stove. The polenta is cooked already, however in order for it to get that nice caramelized exterior on the slices, you’ll want to brown it. A key tip is not to flip the slices too often — let them sit in the skillet for 5 to 7 minutes before turning them, and then let them get completely golden on the other side.

You could also brush the slices with oil and heat them in the oven, or even grill them up if the weather permits. If you want to cook the slices ahead of time, they can be warmed in the oven before topping them with the sauteed mushrooms and serving.

As for the mushrooms, you can go for button mushrooms or cremini, which are very easy to find and affordable. Or if you’re feeling splurgey (or have an experienced mushroom forager in the family!) go for something a bit more exotic, like morels, porcini, or oyster mushrooms.

Try another herb instead of the thyme, like sage, rosemary or marjoram.

If you want to make this dish vegan, replace the butter with olive oil. Make sure the variety of polenta you purchase is vegan (many of them are).

Pan Fried Polenta with Sauteed Mushrooms

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 (1 pound) tube premade polenta

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound mushrooms (such as morels, porcini, oyster, or plain button or cremini mushrooms), cleaned and sliced

½ teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Handful chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Directions:

Unwrap the polenta and slice it into ½-inch slices. Line a surface with paper towels.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place as many of the polenta disks into the pan as will fit in a single layer. Cook without moving them, until they turn golden brown and start to crisp up on the bottom, 5 to 7 minutes. Flip the slices with a spatula and continue to cook until the second side is browned and slightly crispy, about another 5 minutes.

Remove the polenta slices to the paper towel lined surface. Repeat with another tablespoon of butter and the remaining polenta slices.

Meanwhile, in another skillet, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter with the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms have turned nicely browned.

Spoon the hot sauteed mushrooms over the warm polenta slices, sprinkle over the parsley and serve warm.

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Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mom 100 Cookbook.” She blogs at https://themom100.com. She can be reached at [email protected].

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