Grilled Polenta Rounds with 5 Mushroom Ragout

This delicious recipe was submitted by Tara, proprietor of "Punch - the food experience" Passion for food and cooking: "Basically, it's an obsession" Successes: This recipe was a finalist for the La Vendemmia Food and Wine Challenge 2005 in the amateur category!

Click here to find out more about Punch

Prep Time: 1.5 hours + chill time
Servings: 6

Ingredients: For the Polenta:

4 cups water
1 cup polenta
1 T salt
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
1/2 c grated pecorino romano cheese
extra olive oil for brushing

Ingredients: For the ragout:

1 T butter
1 large shallot, chopped fine
1 stalk rosemary, leaves removed, chopped fine
20 g thickly sliced pancetta, sliced into matchstick pieces
1 large portobello mushroom, chopped rough
3-4 shiitake mushrooms, chopped rough
3-4 oyster mushrooms, chopped rough
3-4 button mushrooms, chopped fine
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms that have been rehydrated and chopped
1/2 c. rich veal stock
pepper, to taste

Directions for Polenta:

• Bring salted water to a boil. Gently add the polenta in a steady stream,
  whisking constantly until thickened.
• Turn heat to medium and let polenta come to a bare simmer.
• Stir occasionally and let cook for about 40 minutes, or until the polenta
  is smooth and free of any lumps.
• Add butter, olive oil and cheese.
• Spread the polenta into a lined 8x8 square pan and let chill. This can be
  made 1-2 days in advance, just make sure it is well wrapped and stays
  refrigerated.
• Once ready to serve, cut out 6 rounds using a biscuit cutter. Brush the
  rounds with some reserved olive oil and either grill on the BBQ or in a
  hot pan for 2 minutes per side. Set aside.

Directions for Ragout:

• Once the polenta rounds have been grilled, begin to make the ragout.
• Fry the pancetta in butter for 4 minutes over high heat.
• Add the shallots and rosemary and reduce heat to medium.
• Do not let the shallots brown!
• Cook for another 4 minutes.
• Add all the mushrooms, except the porcini, and let them cook down for
  another 8 - 10 minutes.
• The mushrooms will greatly reduce in volume.
• Add porcini and the veal stock. Let ragout come to a simmer, add pepper
  to taste.
  
  To assemble:
  Place polenta round on a plate. Top with mushroom ragout. Grate some
  fresh Romano cheese around the plate and drizzle with a good quality
  fruity tasting olive oil. For colour, you can garnish with microgreens or
  arugula.

Notes from Chris:
I made this dish last night and it simply ROCKED! The mushroom ragout was as rich as Tara promised. We had it as a main course. I made a couple of slight deviations from the recipe as written. I doubled the pancetta and used 3/4 cup of the pecorino romano... Tara said the more, the better.

Hors D'Oeuvres Recipe: Grilled Polenta Rounds with 5 Mushroom Ragout