Recipe #26

Baked Polenta with Sautéed Oyster Mushrooms and a Lemony Salad

This dish brings together the comforting warmth of baked polenta with the earthy richness of oyster mushrooms, balanced by a lemony touch from the fresh salad.

It's a simple, nourishing plate with different textures and flavors—crisp, creamy, savory, and zesty. Ideal for early summer evenings when craving something hearty but not heavy.

You can use your favorite oyster mushrooms–from oyster, king oyster, golden or yellow, pink rose to book oyster mushrooms all are delicious in this recipe. If you can’t find any, other flavorful mushrooms will do just as fine with polenta I find.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

150 g polenta (medium or coarse-ground cornmeal)
600 ml water or vegetable broth
240 ml milk (I use pea milk)
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
a pinch of pepper
a splash of lemon

1 kg oyster mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil and some more butter
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
parsley, chopped
a little bit of salt and pepper
Optional: 1 teaspoon miso

Lettuce (I like to use oak leaf lettuce)
Lemon zest from 2 lemons + lemon juice
Salt, pepper
Toasted sunflower, pumpkin, hemp seeds
Olive oil

Optional: parmesan, burrata or soft boiled eggs for extra creaminess

PREPARATION

The Polenta –

01 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a large skillet with butter, pour in the cornmeal, water, milk, butter, and salt, and stir until everything's combined.

02 Bake the polenta uncovered for 40 minutes. Stir it, taste it, and bake for another 10—until you like the consistency and taste (add a little salt when needed). In the meantime you can prepare the mushrooms and salad. When it's ready, turn off and open the oven, stir, and serve when the mushrooms and salad are ready.

03 Optional: I like to give the polenta a little herb dress when serving. You can add some grated parmesan, burrata or soft boiled egg before serving. If you have leftovers the next day you can cut and fry the polenta in the pan–this is so good too!

The Mushrooms –

01 Start with cleaning the mushrooms with a brush. You can leave them whole or cut them into smaller bite-size pieces for a little more crispiness.

02 Heat up the olive oil in a skillet. Once it is hot, add the onion and sauté it until slightly translucent. Then add the garlic and stir for another minute.

03 Now add the mushrooms. Press them slightly with a plate, lid or heavy skillet and sauté for about 10 minutes on medium heat. In the meantime prepare the salad (see below). Add a little salt and butter to the mushrooms and flip them to fry until golden, tender, and juicy.

04 Season the mushrooms with black pepper, and more salt if needed. Add chopped fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon.

The Salad –

01 Rinse the lettuce and dry it well before you cut it.

02 Toast sunflower, pumpkin and hemp seeds and set them aside.

03 Mix the dressing together and marinate the salad with it. Add the seeds and some parmesan if you like.

Now serve the polenta, spread it out, add the mushrooms on top and some salad aside.

Enjoy!