This creamy polenta with balsamic roasted brussels sprouts recipe is the ultimate comfort food. I love curling up on the sofa with a hot bowl full for dinner. The left overs are great for lunch the next day.

Roasting brussels sprouts in the oven till they are caramelized is my favorite way of preparing them. If you are not  fan of brussles sprouts, simply replace  them with broccoli florets or mushroom caps. Yum!

I like my polenta extra creamy, so I add half milk, half water as my cooking liquid. Make sure you use a large pan to accommodate the boiling and spluttering from the polenta.

Bob’s Red Mill is my favorite polenta. The flavor and texture are just wonderful. Polenta is nothing but ground cornmeal. It comes in fine, medium or coarse grinds. I like the texture of medium and coarse grinds for this recipe. Cooking times may vary depending on what grind you use.

Creamy Polenta with Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

serves 3-4

Ingredients for Creamy Polenta
1 1/2 cups water or vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups milk, any fat% you like
1 cup polenta (not the quick cooking type). I like Bob’s Red Mill polenta
salt
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Method
In a large pot, bring the milk and water or vegetable stock and some salt to a boil. As soon as it begins to boil, pour the poelnta/corn meal in a steady stream, while whisking. Continue to whisk till it is incorporated.

Let the polenta cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes or till the polenta is cooked and no longer gritty. Stir the polenta every 10 minutes so it doesnt burn in the bottom. Be cautious, the polenta can bubbles and splutter as it cooks.

When polenta is done, butter and parmesan. Serve immediately with roasted brussels sprouts (recipe below).

Polenta will tighten up as it cools. To reheat, add a little water to it.

Ingredients for Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts
12 brussels sprouts. Substitute with 12 broccoli florets or 18 white button mushrooms
3/4 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon  balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled. Optional
3 thyme sprigs. Optional
Salt
Cracked black pepper

Method
While the polenta is cooking, work on th roasted brussles sprouts.

Pre heat oven to 375f

Cut and discard the brussles sprouts stems. Peel away any yellow leaves. Cut each brussels sprout in half lengthwise.

Place brussles sprouts in a bowl with all other ingredients and toss well.

Spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure the brussels sprouts are in a single layer.

Bake in a 375f for about 20 minutes or till the brussels sprouts are browned. Half way through, toss the brussels sprouts and return to the oven, so they brown evenly on all sides.

If using broccoli or mushrooms follow the same method, but roast them in a 425f oven for about 20 minutes or till browned.

Serve hot with creamy polenta.

Its rhubarb season! Grocery store shelves are brimming with these beautiful red stalks. I couldnt let spring roll around and not make anything with rhubarb! Usually, rhubarb is used along with strawberries in pies (because rhubarb and strawberry seasons coincide). This recipe features rhubarb, along with raspberries in a polenta or cornmeal cake. If you like corn cakes, you’ll certainly love this dessert version!

Andrea, from Cooking Books blog says its the Scandinavians who know how to best enjoy the tartness of rhubarb. Andrea says,

“I’m not sure anyone appreciates rhubarb the way the Scandinavians do. In the US, it seems like you rarely find rhubarb without strawberry to mellow it’s tartness. But in Norway, rhubarb stands very much on its own. In fact, R remembers as a child being given stalks of raw rhubarb with a small bag of sugar for dipping and munching.”

Tart rhubarb, tart raspberries, in a sweet, cornmeal cake. Just delicious! And I love the ‘corny’ taste and texture of this cake too.

I adapted the recipe from this recipe for raspberry and lemon polenta cake  by Jane Hornby. Jane’s recipe is for a layered polenta cake, filled with a cream cheese filling. I left out the filling all together and simply made a single cake, adding rhubarb.

Add most the fruit to the batter and bake half way. Then sprinkle more berries on top of the half-cooked cake and continue baking.

Ever baked a cake with fruits in it and all the fruits sink to the bottom? Jane has the solution! Its a great trick for getting this cake to look beautiful too. Reserve some of the berries and then sprinkle them on top of your cake half way through baking. The cake should still be jiggly when you do this. Gently press the berries into the batter like the picture above and return cake to the oven. The batter will bake around the berries and when its done, you’ll have a perfect, berry studded cake!

You can store this cake covered at room temperature for about 2-3 days or wrapped tightly in the fridge for about 4-5 days. Serve with icecream or homemade rhubarb-raspberry compote.

Rhubarb Raspberry Polenta or Cornmeal Cake Recipe

adapted from this recipe  by Jane Hornby
serves about 8

8 oz or 225 grams sugar
8 oz or 225 grams butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 oz or 175 grams fine cornmeal or polenta
1.75 oz or 50 grams flour(I used cake flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup chopped rhubarb
1 cup raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pre-heat oven to 375F. Butter a 9 inch cake tin or baking dish and line the bottom with parchment paper.

In a standing mixer, cream the sugar and butter together for about 3 minutes. Then add the eggs to this mixture one by one. Beat on high speed till the mixture is fluffy. Add vanilla and turn off the mixer.

Sift together the cornmeal/polenta, flour, baking powder and salt. Fold this into the egg mixture in 2 batches. Stir in lemon zest. Pour this batter into the baking dish or cake tin.

Reserve about 1/8 cup of the rhubarb and 1/8 cup of raspberries. Sprinkle the rest of the rhubarb and raspberries on top of the cake batter. Smooth out the top. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. The cake should still be jiggly, but risen. At this stage, take out the cake from the oven. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Sprinkle the lemon juice-sugar mixture all over the top of the cake.

Then arrange the reserved rhubarb pieces and raspberries on top of the half cooked cake. Gently poke them into the batter (but dont poke them all the way in — see picture in post above).  Return cake to the oven and bake another 10 minutes. Cool cake slightly before removing it from the pan.

This is a great meal for a week night. Its filling, tasty, and doesnt take too long to make. I used store bought polenta to speed things up. If you havent tried morel mushrooms, you absolutely must! They are earthy, incredibly flavorful and have a great texture. Fresh morels are only in season very briefly in the spring. But you can buy dried morels all year long. I used Melissa’s brand morel mushrooms. They are little expensive but well worth the splurge. Chanterelles or porcini mushrooms will also be great in this recipe.

Here is a trick for getting extra flavorful sauce: Instead of soaking the mushrooms in water, soak them in half water and half vegetable stock. Then use this liquid to make the sauce.

Saute soaked morels and broccoli and set aside. Then make a sauce with the morel soaking liquid, vegetable stock, a little wine and a few spoons of any soft, creamy cheese. I used Emeril’s vegetable stock which I received from foodbuzz. For the cheese, I recommend Alouette cheese spread for a wonderful creaminess. You could also use cream cheese, goat cheese, blue cheese or heavy cream. Store bought polenta makes this recipe easy to pull together. Just cut up the polenta into rounds, dredge in flour and pan fry till its crispy and golden.

Garlic and thyme add great flavor tot his dish. This photo goes to Jugalbandi’s Click event, this month’s theme is allium.

You could add the sauteed vegetables back in sauce and then top the polenta with it. Or..

…top the polenta rounds with the vegetables and pour the sauce over.