Ingredients
FOR THE POLENTA
4 cup cold water or vegetable stock
1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
FOR THE SAUCE
1 cup stock or water
1 cup diced yellow onions
1 cup zucchini, sliced in 1/2 rounds
2 cup sliced asparagus, 1 lengths
3 cup sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp minced garlic
1 salt and pepper
1 goat cheese for garnish
Directions
Bring water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan and add the rosemary
and salt. Reduce the heat to a simmer and slowly add cornmeal,
whisking constantly. Cook over low heat, still stirring, until
mixture is thick, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the
Parmesan until melted. If you are planning to the polenta in a soft
state, you can keep it mushy by adding water and occasionally
stirring until the sauce is ready. If you plan to bake it pour the
polenta into a lightly oiled shallow baking dish, smooth top and let
cool for 1 hour, or up to 24 hours. When you are ready to bake the
o=polents, remove from refrigerator, run a knife around the inside of
the pan and turn on a flat surface. Cut into squares and place on a
lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15
minutes or until the tops begins to brown lightly. For the sauce:
Bring a cup of vegetable stock to a simmer in a saucepan. Add the
onions and cook, covered, until they are transparent, about 15
minutes. Add zucchini, asparagus, and mushrooms and simmer uncovered
for 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley, garlic and salt and pepper
to taste. Cook another 5 minutes, Sppon mixture over bowl of soft
polenta or 2 squares of baked polenta. Garnish with goat cheese and
serve at once.
Nutritional info per serving: 238 cal; 13g pro, 38g carb, 6g fat(20%)
Exchanges: 2.7 vegetable, 1.6 bread,
.9 meat, .2 fat
Source: The Complete Vegetarian, Miami Herald, 1/18/96 format by Lisa
Crawford
Servings: 4 servings
Polenta With Vegetable Ragout Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Transcribed cooking instructions as a concept can be traced back into distant history, certainly as far back as pharonic Egypt, and maybe even further. Interesting though that maybe, generally, these old cook books were just very simple pictorial instructions for meal preparation.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to food historians are a few clay tablets in the Sumerian language which show the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made people feel exhilarated. During the time of the Romans a man called Apicius compiled some documents describing recipes cooked by wealthy roman citizens. In his scrolls, he describes how the roman meals were split into hors d`oeuvre, entrees and afters, something that is very familiar to us today. Aspicius informs us how the cooks of Roman times made use of a good variety of herbs, including some familiar names for example thyme, fennel and asafoetida. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, we have a couple of interesting recipe books which were published in the 1300s : a book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another named `Curye on Inglish`. Amusingly, these are nothing to do with the curry that appears on menues today, but instead recipes for the types of meals cooked for the nobility of the period. Later on, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought us many foods and spices from Arab cuisine, including spices such as basil and rosemary. These new spices and herbs prompted a surge in manuscripts on food, some of which are kept safe in private libraries. When we get to the 20th century, recipe books were in high demand, as a result of higher levels of literacy, increased leisure time and having more money to spend. |
We hope you enjoy this Polenta With Vegetable Ragout recipe.
