Polenta with Greens

One of my favorite parts of a traditional Italian meal is the side dishes. Some of the most popular traditional side dishes consist of a fresh-picked green (mostly either broccoli rabe, swiss chard, escarole or spinach), usually sautéed in garlic and olive oil. Today, I’m showing you how you can double your pleasure by simply combining Italian greens with my other favorite side dish…polenta! Polenta of course, is a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs meal that is made by stirring together cornmeal and heated liquid, until you get a thick, slightly creamy, slightly mushy consistency. By adding greens to polenta, you not only get a good balance of hearty and healthy, but you also get a tasty old world combination that in my opinion goes toe-to-toe with any other traditional dish that you could name.

The prepping and serving of this dish is incredibly simple…once you get past the 20+ minute marathon of stirring and mixing the polenta (you can click here for Giada DeLaurentiis’ step-by-step instructions on how to prepare polenta). Once you have gotten past the polenta preparation, the rest is simple. Just steam and sauté your greens, and serve on top of a bed of polenta. If you’re feeling rustic, just mix it all together. If you’re going for presentation, gently pile the greens on top of the polenta and top with some fresh shaved parmesan cheese.

My personal favorite green to cook with, especially for this dish, is broccoli rabe. The slight bitterness is the perfect combination for the sweet, creamy polenta. You can add some tasty accent to the rabe by cooking it up with some onion and garlic, and even a little pancetta or bacon for an extra treat.

If you’re looking to make this during the week but don’t have the time to prepare a fresh batch of polenta, simply pick up one of the pre-cooked polenta tubes that are located in the produce section of your grocery store. I use these often, as they are very easy to prepare. Simply slice the polenta up into 1/2 inch slices, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake at 350˚ for about 10 minutes, or until crispy enough to your likeness. You can prepare the broccoli rabe on the stove top at the same time, and have this delicious meal on your table within 15 minutes!

POLENTA WITH GREENS

1. Preparing the Polenta
Courtesy of Giada DeLaurentiis
• 6 cups water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 cups yellow cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a heavy large saucepan. Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the butter, and stir until melted.

2. Preparing the Greens
• 2 lbs broccoli rabe, cut into 2-inch lengths, thick stems discarded
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• (Optional – 1/4 lb pancetta, sliced 1/8 inch thick and cut into tiny cubes)

In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli rabe and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, shaking off the excess water. Wipe out the saucepan.

Add two tablespoons olive oil and pancetta to saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring often, until the pancetta is golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the garlic to pancetta and cook, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the broccoli rabe to the pancetta, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately high heat until tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

Again, pancetta is optional – you can skip adding if you prefer.

3. Combining the Polenta and the Greens
When polenta and greens are done, you can either plate individual servings, by placing some greens on a bed of polenta, or you can serve family style by combining both in to a large serving bowl.

NEW – Itali-Asian Fusion: Sausage, Pepper and Broccoli Rabe Dumplings

This week I’m throwing my hat into the trendy Asian-Fusion kitchen, with a bit of Italian flare. I’m calling it Itali-Asian Fusion. What I’m doing is taking sausage filling that you would use in a ravioli or a stromboli (aka sausage bread), and I’m using it to fill wonton wrappers. I came up with the idea when planning to make sausage and peppers stromboli for a family birthday party. The combination of the sausage, peppers and broccoli rabe mixed with some parmesan cheese was a natural, go-to favorite Italian taste, and the wonton wrappers made for easy single servings along with puréed red peppers for dipping. The wonton wrappers can be prepared in a number of ways when stuffed (fried, steamed in steamer baskets, or baked – I chose to bake mine for quick and easy serving time).

The easiest method that I use to prepare sausage and peppers as a meat filling is to combine the raw ground sausage with chopped peppers in a baking dish and to bake it until the meat is browned and slightly crispy (a mixture of sweet and hot sausage is my preference). This eliminates the extra oils from frying and frees up some time as well. While you let the cooked sausage and peppers cool, you can prepare your broccoli rabe. When the broccoli rabe is done cooking, combine it with the sausage and peppers and either chop it with a knife or with a few quick pulses in a food processor. This helps mix the filling and allows for easy assembly, regardless of what your using the filling for.

As I mentioned above, you can prepare the stuffed wontons a number of ways. Frying is the traditional way, which will give you the crispy texture. Baking will also give you a slightly crisp coating, if sprayed with a cooking spray. And steaming will give you a soft, ravioli-like texture.

SAUSAGE, PEPPERS & BROCCOLI RABE DUMPLINGS
Makes 40-48 Dumplings

1lb ground sausage (hot, sweet or a mixture of both)
Two 7-oz jars roasted red peppers (one for mixture, one for dipping sauce)*
1 bunch broccoli rabe (bitter broccoli)
2 tblspn olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
One 12-oz package wonton wrappers (found in the produce section of your grocery store)
*you can use one bell pepper, red pepper or any other pepper of choice in place of the roasted red pepper for the mixure

Mix the ground sausage (remove casing if needed) with one jar of chopped roasted red peppers. Place in a baking dish and bake at 350º for 40-45 minutes, or until sausage is browned, up to slightly crisp. Remove from oven, set aside to let cool.

In a large pot, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add the broccoli rabe and let cook for 5 minutes, until crisp-tender. Remove from pot and drain excess water. In a large pan, heat 2 tblspn olive oil, add garlic. Add broccoli rabe to pot, mix with garlic for and saute for 10-15 minutes until desired doneness. Remove from pan, season with salt and pepper, let cool slightly, mix with sausage and peppers.

Using either a knife and fork or a food processor, mix and chop the sausage mixture, broccoli rabe and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese just a bit to make for easy filling.

Taking one wonton wrapper at a time, place a full teaspoon of the sausage mixture in the middle of the wrapper. Using either your finger or a brush, wet all 4 of the edges of the wonton, fold in half diagonally, press and set aside. When all 48 wontons are stuffed, you can either fry, steam or bake the stuffed wontons.

To fry: Heat a wok or nonstick skillet on medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add 10 – 12 dumplings, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the bottom is browned. Add 1/3 cup water, cover, and steam the dumplings until the liquid is absorbed (about 5 minutes). Remove and cook the remainder of the dumplings.

To steam: Using a steaming apparatus of your choice, bring 1/4 to 1/2-inch of water to a simmer over medium heat. Spray the steamer’s surface lightly with the non-stick vegetable spray to prevent sticking. Place as many dumplings as will fit into a steamer, without touching each other. Cover and steam for 10 to 12 minutes over medium heat. Remove the dumplings from the steamer to a heatproof platter and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat until all dumplings are cooked.

To bake: Place dumplings on a sprayed baking sheet without touching each other. Bake at 350º until crisp.

Place the second 7-0z jar of roasted red peppers in a blender, purée, heat and serve as a dipping sauce.

Cavatelli with Broccoli Rabe and Pancetta

Last week I was in the mood for a hearty, old world pasta dish with lots of zip. I found the recipe for broccoli rabe and pancetta in an old Food & Wine magazine. I decided to add it to cavatelli (aka ‘gavadeels’). Very tasty and very filling. The bitterness of the rabe and the saltiness of the pancetta made for a great pasta topping. No other herbs or spices needed.

You’re working with two pots of water, so to avoid any confusion I’ve labeled them as Pot A and Pot B.

CAVATELLI WITH BROCCOLI RABE AND PANCETTA

1 lb package frozen cavatelli
2 lbs broccoli rabe, cut into 2-inch lengths, thick stems discarded
2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 lb pancetta, sliced 1/8 inch thick and cut into tiny cubes
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a large pot (Pot A), start to bring 4 quarts of salted water and one tablespoon olive oil to a boil. This will be for the cavatelli – do not add cavatelli yet, as it cooks quickly. The oil is added to prevent pasta from sticking.

In another large saucepan (Pot B), bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli rabe and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, shaking off the excess water. Wipe out the saucepan.

Add two tablespoons olive oil and pancetta to saucepan (Pot B) and cook over moderately low heat, stirring often, until the pancetta is golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

At this point, you will add the cavatelli to the large pot (Pot A) of boiling water, cook for 5-7 minutes.

Add the garlic to pancetta (Pot B) and cook, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the broccoli rabe to the pancetta, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately high heat until tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

Drain cavatelli when done, add to a large bowl, mix with broccoli rabe and pancetta.

Serves 4