I am 50% Italian and I hate to admit that I have never made polenta before.  There you have it.  My confession.  Since I've never made it, we haven't had it much.  Why?  I have no idea!

It's absolutely not hard to make at all.  You just have to keep an eye on it and make sure it's stirred frequently otherwise it will burn.  

Megan had gone to her farmer's market and got me an assortment of fresh mushrooms.  Some that I had never seen before too.  They were super good with the lemon and polenta.  

The recipe calls for 1 cup polenta to 3 cups vegetable broth.  When you mix the two together, you will think, really?  Are the proportions right?  They are.  My first instinct was to add more polenta, and boy, was I glad I stuck to the recipe.

Parmesan Polenta with LemonThyme Wild Mushrooms

Parmesan Polenta:

• 3 cup of vegetable broth
• 1 cup of polenta
• 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan
• salt & pepper

Lemon Thyme Wild Mushrooms:

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of shallots, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups of cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup of shitaki, sliced
• juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme, chopped

1. Add vegetable broth to a medium size saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Slowly stir in polenta with a whisk.
3. Reduce heat and allow polenta to cook for 30 minutes, stirring frequently so that the polenta does not stick to sides.
4. In the meantime, heat a medium non-stick saute pan to medium high heat. Add olive oil and sliced shallots. Saute for 3-4 minutes until shallots are translucent.
5. Next add minced garlic clove and saute for 30 seconds.
6. Immediately add in sliced cremini mushrooms with sliced shitaki mushrooms.
7. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Finish off the mushrooms with lemon juice and chopped fresh thyme.
9. Next, to the polenta, add in 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan, salt, and pepper to taste and serve!

There are a few steps to this recipe, but trust me.  It was worth it.  Chris said I could definitely make it again.  He even liked the medley of mushrooms I used.  

If you want to view the original recipe, you can click here:  www.joyfulhealthyeats.com

Sometime, I will make this for the girls.  Alyssa will pick off the mushrooms, but that's ok.  She will like the polenta.  Megan would like this, as long as there aren't toooo many mushrooms.

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper