Look at it preening itself, tossed in some tempting sauce, drizzled with olive oil or sprinkled with parmesan. This precocious food goes with anything, meat, fish, ham, seafood, vegetables, oil, butter, cream, tomatoes, you name it and Pasta’s been with it. It doesn’t even have the dignity to stick to one simple shape, linguine, pappardelle, penne, casarecce and orecchiette are just a few, we haven’t even got onto the stuffed varieties like tortellini or ravioli. Everywhere you go from the finest Michelin stared establishments to cheapest chain restaurants, you’ll find it sitting on the menu flirting with us with its Italian sounding names. And I must confess, I love it. At its best it is the most beautiful and tasty simple rustic food or a complex and delicate dish deserving of high praise. However to call it the quintessential Italian food, the dish that defines national identity, may be doing a disservice to another Italian staple, Polenta.
Polenta is course ground corn meal, cooked in boiling water in a similar way to porridge or risotto. Not long ago, in certain Italian regions, polenta was the staple food and pasta was a little thought of dish. Cooked in giant copper pots over the fire, the slow ritual of continually stirring for 40 mins or so, was almost as important as eating the finished product. It is a dish that anyone with a vague interest in Italian food should try, with the simple addition of butter and parmesan, its a match to anything its flashy little brother can offer. Indeed, as many pasta cooks forget, its simplicity that makes the greatest Italian food. So put the spaghetti down, grab yourself a saucepan and large wooden spoon and try something a bit different.
Polenta can be served in two ways, firstly cooked and served immediately on a large , it will be thick and soft and moorish, real comfort food especially on a cold winters day. Polenta can not be cooked and left standing around, so only cook it when you are ready for it, if you want it this way. Secondly, it can be cooked much in advance poured into a deep try and chilled in the fridge, it will produce a block almost like a heavy set jelly. This can be sliced and recooked, on a griddle pan or fried in olive oil, and makes a nice accompaniment with roast meats. For this recipe I want the soft straight from the pan version.
Italian Pork Stew with Polenta and Courgette Fries
This soft stew and polenta, works well with the crispy courgettes which can be served on the side or on top. This is great comfort food, warm and heavy and full of flavour, having the sausages stewed and not fried gives them a very different feel to how you may normally have them. For the polenta, its available in most supermarkets or delis, I use normal polenta that will take at least 30mins to cook, however quick cook polenta is available that only takes a few minutes. Its up to you which you use, one of my favourite cook books deems it an acceptable but inferior product, thus I stick to the normal kind. I get mine from my local eastern food store, you’ll also find it in most supermarkets and delis. This recipe should serve 4 people.
For the stew.
- 500g plain pork sausages (You don’t need to do to a fancy italian deli for these just good quality sausages from you butcher or supermarket)
- 1 medium onion
- 2 Sticks of celery
- One large carrot
- Tblspoon of tomato puree
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 2 glasses of good red wine
- 100ml of water
- 1 Sprig of thyme
- 1 Sprig of Rosemary
- Salt and pepper
For the Courgetts
- 3 medium courgettes cut into small strips
- 4 teaspoons of salt
- 100g plain flour
- 5 tablespoons of olive oil
For the Polenta
- 255g of polenta
- 3 pints of water
- Salt
- 50g butter
- Grated parmesan
Method For Stew
- Dice the onion, carrots and celery, fry gently in olive oil in a deep sauce pan until the onion is golden.
- Add the tomato puree, tomatoes, water and wine and bring back to a simmer.
- Cut the sausages into small chunks and add to stew, there is no need to fry them.
- Add the thyme, rosemary and cover on a very gentle simmer, leave this for at least one hour. Although its doesn’t matter how long it simmers for, thus you can make it well in advance and leave it sitting on your stove, but a minimum of one hour is essential.
- Half an hour before its served remove the lid and reduce to desired consistency, I like it quite thick, then season with salt and pepper.
Method For courgettes.
- Cover the sliced courgettes with the salt and place in a colander over a bowl, do this about 1 hour before you need them, as the salt will need time to draw out the water.
- After, at least 30 mins, place courgette on kitchen towel and pat dry.
- Put courgette sticks into flour and make sure they are all well covered.
Method For the Polenta
- Bring water to high boil in saucepan and add a light pinch of salt.
- With one hand continually stir with the other gently sprinkle polenta into water (I like to pour it from a jug).
- Keep the water boiling, you have to continually stir until its done, which will take 30 to 40 minutes for normal polenta or 5 or 6 for quick cook. While stirring make sure your spoon is scraping the bottom of the pan to stop it sticking.
- The polenta is done when it has a very thick porridge like consistency and will start to come away from the edge of the pan. Remove from the heat and add the butter and parmesan and stir in. This can sit covered in a pan for no more than ten mintues, but enough time to fry the courgettes.
- Finish the courgettes, by frying them in hot oil, which should at least 5mm deep in pan.
To serve
Pour out the polenta onto a large plate or board and allow it to spread out slightly. Spoon the stew on top of polenta, and place courgettes on top of stew (if you like). Sever dish in centre of the table, its a great sharing dish, allow everyone to dig in a help themselves.
