Mushrooms, Sausage Ragu with Polenta
By: Giangi Townsend
Published: Tuesday, October 6, 2020 - 3:09pm

Ingredients




RAGU
10 ounces sausage meat
⅓ cup chopped pancetta
5 ounces Shimeji mushrooms
1-ounce dry mushrooms, soaked in 2 cups of hot water for 20 minutes
2 bay leaves
1 cup red wine + more if needed it
2 carrots, peeled and diced1
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloved, peeled and hard end removed
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups canned chopped tomatoes (Pomi)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup chicken stock
½ cup mushrooms soaking water
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese
POLENTA
2 quarts water
2 cups instant polenta
salt

Preparation

1 TO PREPARE THE MUSHROOMS RAGU 2 In a heavy large enamel cast iron pot heat the olive oil the garlic over medium heat. Once the garlic is brown, but not burned, remove and discard. 3 Add the onions, parsley, and carrots and mix well. When the onions are translucent add the sausage meat, pancetta, and separate well with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the tomato paste and mix well. 4 Cook the meats until all the liquid is evaporated. 5 Add the bay leaves, red wine, chopped porcini mushrooms, Chinese mushrooms half of the strained mushrooms liquid. Mix well. 6 Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper. Mix well, lower the heat to simmer, cover and cook stirring occasionally for 1 hour to 1 ½ hour. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking. Add more wine if too dry. Cook uncovered for another 30 minutes. 7 Remove the bay leaves before serving. 8 TO MAKE POLENTA 9 Bring the water to a boil. Gradually add the polenta and whisking vigorously to prevents lumps. Change to a wooden spoon and continue to stir until it becomes thicker, around 6 minutes. 10 ASSEMBLE 11 Remove the polenta from the heat and place on a plate or platter. Add the mushrooms ragu over it. Sprinkle a very generous amount of parmesan cheese over it. 12 Serve hot and immediately.

About

Mushrooms, sausage ragu with polenta, doesn’t sound perfect comfort fall food? Of course, there are so many versions of ragu, but most of them all have some meat as a base. This is my own version that I created reminiscing of my grandmother cooking.