Baked Corse Grained Polenta with Spinach, Parmesan & Wild Boar Salami
Time for something a little different and totally delicious- for me at least, this was the perfect thing on a cold Winter's evening!
Lovely fresh spinach under a layer of toasted polenta, topped with Parmesan cheese- and the star of the show, some fantastic, rich, wild boar salami... oh...yeah!
What a savory treat, with lots of good things going for it! Sure, there's that salami in there- but you would probably put a lot more than that on a sandwich or pizza! Otherwise, this is wholesome and sensible stuff- and all the better for it!
For 2 nice portions, I needed one nice, big bunch of spinach- enough to fill your frying pan whilst it is raw- as you know- it will wilt-down to less than a third of that size when cooked. Otherwise, I had 2 cups of coarse-ground polenta, 1 onion, a little fresh thyme, a little Parmesan cheese and a little of that delicious salami.
So, if you happen to have an hours time to spend- half of it preparing and the other half waiting- you can make this for yourself or your loved ones... And find out how good something so simple can be!
Step one is to get the polenta going- you will need roughly three times the amount of liquid as polenta.
I added 3-4 sprigs of thyme, brought it to the boil and then reduced the heat to a gentle simmer. One good addition would be garlic- but I made mine without. The best way to give it a nice garlic flavor without it getting overpowering is to add a clove, whole, and then remove it at the end, so that your food is gently perfumed and not totally overpowered.
In the meantime, I coarsely chopped the onion and fried it in just a little olive oil until it began to turn golden and lightly caramelized in its own sugars.
I then washed the spinach thoroughly and chopped it rather coarsely- and added it straight to the same frying pan.
After 3-4 minutes, it wilted down and became a lovely, deep, emerald green and was halfway good to eat- to make it really good it needed some great flavor and a little more time... no problem!
The flavor came in the shape of salt, pepper and nutmeg, which I added generously- and the time would be spent in the oven!
So I turned the oven on and turned the heat up to get it ready to do just that!
In the meantime, the polenta was also cooked through and I seasoned it also with pepper and nutmeg- and just a little salt, on account of the Parmesan cheese and salami that was yet to come.
So, despite the out-of-focus shot, as you can see, I began putting my meal together by filling the spinach and onion into my baking dish first.
Next came a nice layer of that lovely polenta, which I seasoned on top one last time with plenty of fresh pepper, a hint more nutmeg and a scattering of Parmesan cheese.
The finishing touch was the salami- in this case, as I said, an incredible wild boar salami- lucky me! But... any salami you may prefer will be just fine! Slice it nice and thin so that it crisps-up in the oven- less is more! Trust me!
I baked mine for 25-30 minutes at 180°C, after which time the juices from the spinach and onion had begun to bubble-up around the outer edges of the polenta, the salami and cheese had made for a crispy topping... and all of the flavors had mingled together in the most wonderful way!
I baked mine for 25-30 minutes at 180°C, after which time the juices from the spinach and onion had begun to bubble-up around the outer edges of the polenta, the salami and cheese had made for a crispy topping... and all of the flavors had mingled together in the most wonderful way!
There you have it- all in one, big scoop! Lots of great, Italian country flavors and a whole lot of comfort this cold Winter! I think this may well be a dish that you all enjoy!
Colorful, simple... but delicious!
So much goodness!
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