Description
Bitter greens are delicious when paired with this creamy, cheesy polenta.
Ingredients
- large bunch of komatsuna
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil, butter, or bacon fat)
- ½ tsp coarse salt
- ½ cup walnuts (toasted if liked)
- 235 ml chicken stock
- 235 ml whole milk
- 1 bay leaf
- 128 g yellow cornmeal
- 65 g Gruyere, shredded
- 28 g unsalted butter
- ½ tsp coarse salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Wash komatsuna and trim stem ends. Wash stems thoroughly to remove sand. Cut into 2” pieces; set aside until ready to use.
- Fill a large saucepan with water and 1 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Prepare a bowl filled with ice water; set aside.
- While waiting for the water to boil, start the polenta: combine broth, milk and bay leaf in a medium saucepan; bring to boil then turn off heat, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Once the water boils, drop in komatsuna pieces to blanche for about 2 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and drop into the ice water to stop the cooking process. Remove pieces with slotted spoon and pat dry with paper towel or a salad spinner.
- In a saute pan, heat olive oil with garlic over medium heat. When garlic gets nicely browned, remove from pan.
- Add komatsuna to oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Increase heat to medium/high to saute the greens for about 6-8 minutes. Turn off heat and leave uncovered while you prepare polenta.
- Remove bay leaf from milk. Bring back to boil, then reduce to medium heat and slowly sprinkle in cornmeal, whisking vigorously at each pour. Keep whisking until the cornmeal has absorbed the liquid and it is smooth.
- Remove from heat and stir in cheese, butter, salt and pepper.
- Transfer polenta to serving dishes, top with komatsuna, walnuts and a few grinds of fresh black pepper (to taste).