Thank you to the following for reviewing Vegan Under Pressure and featuring the Herbed Polenta recipe on your blogs. The Herbed Polenta recipe is below and on page 70 of Vegan Under Pressure.
Amy Fothergill, The Family Chef
Barbara Schieving, Pressure Cooking Today added sundried tomatoes to her polenta, and
Kat Moss Mendenhall, KatMendenhall.com added sundried tomatos and olives.
Herbed Polenta – Vegan Under Pressure
Polenta has gone upscale, but it's easy to make at home for pennies. Another bonus: Pressure-cooked polenta doesn’t need stirring. You might end up with a lump or two but cooking this way saves a lot of time. Adding sun-dried tomatoes (see variation below) or dried mushrooms when cooking polenta adds big flavors.
Be sure to get coarse polenta (sometimes called coarse corn grits), rather than corn meal or corn flour which are much finer and will turn your pressure cooker into a fine mess.
Ingredients
- 1 –2 tablespoons olive oil optional
- 1/2 cup finely minced onion
- 2 or more teaspoons minced garlic
- 4 cups broth or water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1/4 teaspoon dried
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley divided
- 1 cup coarse polenta
Instructions
- Heat the oil, if using, in the cooker over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté 1 minute. Add garlic and sauté for another minute.
- Add the water or broth, salt, bay leaf, the oregano, rosemary, half of both the basil and parsley, and stir. Sprinkle the polenta over the water. Do not stir.
- Lock the lid in place. Bring to high pressure. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Let the pressure come down naturally, releasing any remaining pressure after 10 minutes has elapsed. If the pressure releases before 10 minutes is up, let the polenta sit in the pot for the full 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid, tilting it away from you. Remove the bay leaf. Whisk the polenta to smooth out any lumps. If the polenta seems too thin, stir and simmer over medium heat for a few minutes, or lock the lid back on the cooker for 5 minutes and let sit.
- Serve as is, or pour into glass pans to cool. Once cool, bake, grill or pan fry.
- Variation: Sun-dried tomato and olive polenta: add 1/3 cup finely diced sun-dried tomatoes when cooking the polenta. After the polenta is finished cooking, add 1/4 cup chopped olives, of your choice and stir in.
Notes
Excerpted from VEGAN UNDER PRESSURE, (c) 2016 by Jill Nussinow. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Oh goodness! I had a little craving for polenta and found your wonderful recipe. Yummm! I am now making another pot full because I just can’t get enough of this wonderful stuff. I used my Instant Pot and this couldn’t be easier. Thank you, thank you!
When do you add the other half of basil and parsley?
Thank you for asking. When the polenta is done stir in the rest of the basil and parsley so that it is not cooked.
I cannot pin this recipe because I get a message telling me to disable my pop up blocker. I don’t know how and really don’t know if I should. I normally can Pin recipes without this problem. Thanks
I cannot pin this recipe because I get a message telling me to disable my pop up blocker. I don’t know how and really don’t know if I should. I normally can Pin recipes without this problem. Thanks
Thank you for pinning my recipes. If you’ve updated your software, browser, or Pinterest application you will get this message. You should be able to disable for Pinterest and not receive these messages.
I have asked my assistant to look into this Diane. Thank you for the attempt.
Made this twice, excellent results! The polenta had a perfect consistency, no lumps. And so much easier than cooking polenta on the stove top. Thanks for the great recipes and books!
Thank you for letting me know. I am happy to hear that you like this recipe.
Thank you for making the recipe and enjoying it, too, Ellen. And thank you for using my books.