Sauteed Mushroom with Cheesy Polenta Recipe
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This Sautéed Mushrooms with Cheesy Polenta Recipe, flavorful mushrooms sautéd in herbs and a balsamic vinegar sauce, and served with creamy polenta with melted gouda cheese, is the perfect savory appetizer or main dish.
Over the years there are those meals that stand out as favorites. The ones you want to rush home to recreate right away. But sometimes life gets in the way, we get distracted and find ourselves years later still thinking about something like, say, mushrooms and creamy polenta.
Several years ago during a work trip to Napa, we were treated to a delightful dinner at Michael Chiarello’s famed Botega restaurant. Certainly not an everyday (or every year, for that matter) dining experience for me. A variety of appetizers were ordered for our group, but one stood out from the rest: Polenta Under Glass. I knew after the first bite of the rich balsamic mushroom sauce and cheesy polenta that evening that I wanted to come home and re-create that savory goodness as soon as possible.
Years went by as I delayed recreating the memorable dish. As you may know, stuff happens. We put off and postpone and shelve those things that add flavor to our lives, even something as simple as mushrooms and polenta. I don’t know why. Life is too short to leave anything on the back burner for too long.
Even though it took me a while to get around to recreating the wonderful flavor combination, it was definitely worth the (unnecessary) wait. Sautéed Mushrooms with Cheesy Polenta Recipe, a savory appetizer or main dish of flavorful mushrooms sautéd in herbs and a rich balsamic vinegar sauce, spooned over creamy polenta with melted gouda cheese, is a dish you shouldn’t wait to make. It’s obsession worthy, I promise. And such a simple dish to make. I don’t know why I waited so long. Make sure you don’t delay like I did. Try it soon!
Sauteed Mushroom with Cheesy Polenta Recipe
Sautéed Mushrooms with Cheesy Polenta Recipe
A savory appetizer or main dish of flavorful mushrooms sautéd in herbs and a rich balsamic vinegar sauce, spooned over creamy polenta with melted gouda cheese.
Ingredients
For mushrooms:
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, sliced (Baby Bella or mixture)
- 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 garlic cloves, minced/grated
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 4 tablespoons butter
- salt to taste
For polenta:
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 2 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups instant polenta
- 8 ounces gouda* cheese, shredded
- salt to taste
Instructions
- For mushrooms: Warm a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil. When oil ripples, add mushrooms; and cook stirring occasionally for 7 minutes. Stir in thyme, oregano, pepper and garlic; continue to cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in balsamic vinegar, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pan, stirring constantly about 30 seconds. Stir in chicken broth, reduce to low. Stir in butter. Salt to taste. Keep warm.**
- For polenta: In a saucepan, bring 2 1/2 cups milk and 2 1/4 cups chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; gradually stir in polenta; cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Add more liquid (broth, milk or water) as needed to achieve desired consistency. Remove from heat. Add shredded cheese; stir to combine until smooth. Salt to taste. Serve polenta warm topped with mushrooms.
Notes
*Other cheeses may be substituted. A few recommendations: Gouda, Gruyère, Havarti, Fontina, Cheddar
**For more sauce/gravy, increase chicken broth a tad—about 1/4 cup at a time to desired consistency.
Originally published October 24, 2016.
Work trip to Napa–one of my favorite places in all the earth. 🙂 Michael Chiarello’s restaurant must have been awesome!!
Looks delicious, but I have a question. The picture shows the mushrooms glistening, but dry. In your recipe, the mushrooms require 3/4 cup of chicken froth, which should make it very saucy. Do you drain any excess liquid, or do you simmer till all the liquid has evaporated?
It is saucy. The picture shows a serving with mushrooms that were added using a slotted spoon. More sauce is definitely better!
Thank you…just made mushrooms and was wondering why I had so much liquid
I can’t believe I stumbled upon this! I had the same dish at the same restaurant 6 years too and knew that I would have to have it again. I’m going to make it tomorrow! Thanks Amy. It really was an unbelievable dish.
I hope you enjoy it, Julie!
Hi. Made this last night for dinner. This is the best. Thank you for sharing
Happy to hear that you enjoyed it, Jan!
Instead of regular milk, could I use an alternative? Almond or coconut milk perhaps?
This recipe is delicious but the proportions seem way off. This makes about twice as much polenta as you need, even for 1.5 lbs of mushrooms. I ended up buying more mushrooms and reheating the leftover polenta, adding enough broth to restore it to its original consistency. Next time I will make half the amount of polenta and we will probably still have some left.
wow, have had most of these separately as a side dish, but never combined as a side dish or otherwise, thank you for this recipe
The restaurant is actually spelled Bottega. Here’s the actual recipe, if you want it: http://static.contentres.com/media/documents/8c58d3d7-0c32-4f57-8d2a-cdc14f6fced1.pdf
Thank you many times over for a delicious recipe for polenta! I’ve come back to this more times than I can count, it’s definately a requested recipe by friends and family at this point. I’m making it tomorrow in an enormous amount for my niece’s high school graduate party, her request! Delicious and the extra sauce is a bonus. 😁
A friend gifted me with some mushrooms and tried this recipe. I loved the results. Thanks Amy for sharing.
Thanks for the recipe. I enjoyed the mushrooms but found that they exuded so much liquid that I did not need the chicken broth. Other than that, they were great! I used another recipe for the polenta.