Welcome to the New Year! This is my first blog post in this new year. It has been a very slow start, first with a vacation in Mumbai for 3 weeks, involving a trip with the whole family to Jaipur. It was my first time to Jaipur, and the experience was wonderful. I will talk more about it in a separate blog post, and give some insight into what we did on our trip. Mumbai was amazing. Spending quality time with my family was just what I needed after an extremely busy 2018. We both had worked really hard throughout the year, and spending this time with family was a treat! Mumbai has changed a lot in four years, and seeing all the globalization was quite an eye opener, and amazing to see, from the Mumbai that I grew up in. The grocery stores are like the American grocery stores, well kept, and you get all the international items possible. The restaurants have really become top-notch, and the hospitality is way beyond. They will ask you at every point in your meal, if we are enjoying the meal, and they always provide their recommendations on what to order. Very impressive!
I will do a blog post on the places I visited on my trip, but for now I want to share with you a recipe that I did for a brand last December. I LOVED how the recipe turned out, and hence I wanted to share it in a blog post. The appetizer can be served for any dinner party, entertaining or it would be fantastic for the upcoming Oscars too! It is simple, with fresh ingredients, and sophisticated in my eyes :). I use the seasonal winter produce in this recipe. The polenta is made firm, spread on a shallow tray, and then cut into rounds after it cools down. The tray can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days as well. The polenta rounds are then shallow fried or sautéed on a pan to brown them slightly, and crisp it up. it is then topped with roasted spiced delicate squash, which is my favorite squash, sautéed mushrooms, some feta, pom arils and pine nuts. Then it is drizzled with this very flavorful sage pine nut pesto. So good!
My kids loved this dish too which tells you about their palate :). The dish is well rounded in flavors, a little bit of salty, spicy, sweet and sour from all the different components on the polenta round. If you do make this dish, please do not forget to tag #thejamlab on Instagram, and/or leave a comment on this blog post.
Hope you all are having a wonderful January and hope you all are staying warm wherever you are! It has been a rainy month in Northern CA, and the rain is always welcome :). Loving the weather right now, but thank god I am not in the snow 😉 .
Cheers,
Amisha
Polenta Cakes with Roasted Delicata Squash, Mushrooms and Sage Pine Nut Pesto
Ingredients
- Polenta cakes:
- 1 cup corn meal/polenta
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 2 to 2 ½ cups water
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 to 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- Roasted Delicata squash:
- 250 gms of small cubes delicate squash
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- ¾ tsp black pepper
- ¾ tsp dried thyme
- ¾ tsp smoked paprika
- Sauteed Mushrooms:
- 2 cups mushrooms cut into small pieces
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tbsp. thyme
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Sage Pine nut Pesto:
- 1 cup sage leaves
- ½ cup parsley
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ to 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- Garnish:
- ½ cup pine nuts
- ½ cup feta cheese
- ½ cup pomegranate arils
- Olive oil to shallow fry the polenta rounds.
Instructions
- Sage Pine Nut Pesto:
- For the Pesto, combine all ingredients, except the olive oil, in a food processor. Pulse it until it is a crumbly texture. Now slowly add in the olive oil while the food processor is running(not pulsing), until combined. I store the pesto in a glass jar, and always top it with some extra olive oil to preserve it and keep it moist. This can be made a day in advance, or even a couple more days in advance.
- Roasted Delicata Squash:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put all the ingredients on a small baking tray, and mix it all together with your hands. Put it in the oven for about 15 minutes, until slightly charred. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Sauteed Mushrooms:
- In a small shallow frying pan, on medium heat, add all the ingredients and sautee the mushrooms for about 5-7 minutes. They should be slightly browned. Remove from the stove and set it aside.
- Polenta Cakes:
- In a medium saucepan, add water and vegetable stock, and let it start boiling. Add the salt and pepper. Whisk in the cornmeal/polenta, and stir for 3-4 minutes, till it starts to thicken. Now turn the heat to low, and let it cook for another 30 minutes. Keep stirring to not let it stick to the bottom of the pan. The polenta should be smooth in the mouth, and not grainy in texture. Check for consistency. It should not be too thick as well. Add ¼ cup of water if it is too thick and cook it till it reaches a smooth texture consistency in the mouth when tasted. Add in the butter and mix well.
- Now in an 8*11 shallow jelly roll pan, spray the pan with cooking spray. Spread the firm polenta with a small offset spatula and let it cool to room temperature for 2 hours. Now using a 2 inch round cutter, cut out polenta rounds. Use an offset spatula to carefully get them out of the pan such that you do not break them. Set it aside on a wide plate.
- Now in a non-stick grill pan, or a shallow 10 inch pan, on medium heat, add about 1 tbsp olive oil per polenta round. Now gently add about 3 rounds in a non-stick grill pan, or about 5 at a time on the 10 inch shallow pan. Fry each round for about 2 minutes per side to brown and crisp up the polenta round. Remove it from the pan, onto a wide plate.
- Assembly:
- To assemble on a small plate, add each polenta round, top with the roasted delicate squash, and sautéed mushrooms. Now add a few pine nuts, feta cheese and pom arils per round, and drizzle with the sage pine nut pesto! Your appetizer is ready!
Polenta Cakes with Roasted Delicata Squash, Mushrooms and Sage Pine Nut Pesto
Ingredients
- Polenta cakes:
- 1 cup corn meal/polenta
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 2 to 2 ½ cups water
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 to 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- Roasted Delicata squash:
- 250 gms of small cubes delicate squash
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- ¾ tsp black pepper
- ¾ tsp dried thyme
- ¾ tsp smoked paprika
- Sauteed Mushrooms:
- 2 cups mushrooms cut into small pieces
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tbsp. thyme
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Sage Pine nut Pesto:
- 1 cup sage leaves
- ½ cup parsley
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ to 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- Garnish:
- ½ cup pine nuts
- ½ cup feta cheese
- ½ cup pomegranate arils
- Olive oil to shallow fry the polenta rounds.
Instructions
- Sage Pine Nut Pesto:
- For the Pesto, combine all ingredients, except the olive oil, in a food processor. Pulse it until it is a crumbly texture. Now slowly add in the olive oil while the food processor is running(not pulsing), until combined. I store the pesto in a glass jar, and always top it with some extra olive oil to preserve it and keep it moist. This can be made a day in advance, or even a couple more days in advance.
- Roasted Delicata Squash:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put all the ingredients on a small baking tray, and mix it all together with your hands. Put it in the oven for about 15 minutes, until slightly charred. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Sauteed Mushrooms:
- In a small shallow frying pan, on medium heat, add all the ingredients and sautee the mushrooms for about 5-7 minutes. They should be slightly browned. Remove from the stove and set it aside.
- Polenta Cakes:
- In a medium saucepan, add water and vegetable stock, and let it start boiling. Add the salt and pepper. Whisk in the cornmeal/polenta, and stir for 3-4 minutes, till it starts to thicken. Now turn the heat to low, and let it cook for another 30 minutes. Keep stirring to not let it stick to the bottom of the pan. The polenta should be smooth in the mouth, and not grainy in texture. Check for consistency. It should not be too thick as well. Add ¼ cup of water if it is too thick and cook it till it reaches a smooth texture consistency in the mouth when tasted. Add in the butter and mix well.
- Now in an 8*11 shallow jelly roll pan, spray the pan with cooking spray. Spread the firm polenta with a small offset spatula and let it cool to room temperature for 2 hours. Now using a 2 inch round cutter, cut out polenta rounds. Use an offset spatula to carefully get them out of the pan such that you do not break them. Set it aside on a wide plate.
- Now in a non-stick grill pan, or a shallow 10 inch pan, on medium heat, add about 1 tbsp olive oil per polenta round. Now gently add about 3 rounds in a non-stick grill pan, or about 5 at a time on the 10 inch shallow pan. Fry each round for about 2 minutes per side to brown and crisp up the polenta round. Remove it from the pan, onto a wide plate.
- Assembly:
- To assemble on a small plate, add each polenta round, top with the roasted delicate squash, and sautéed mushrooms. Now add a few pine nuts, feta cheese and pom arils per round, and drizzle with the sage pine nut pesto! Your appetizer is ready!
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