Put a bow on it :-)

Temperatures are dipping and its time for comfort food. It's time for the kind of meal that just might involve undoing a top button and having to beach oneself post-prandially on a nearby sofa for a spell. This dish involves one of my favorite comfort foods, polenta. I can feel myself relaxing when I even say 'polenta'. Say 'polenta and a glass of red wine' and I'm pretty much comatose.

This dish is originally called 'polenta in chains', because the veggies in there are in strands and thus appear entwined throughout the final dish. I have to say, that description didn't make sense to me, so, at risk of offending multiple generations of Italians than me, I'm renaming it Polenta with Ribbons, since the veggies are cut into thin strips or shredded, so that in the final dish, they look kind of like ribbons stirred into the cheesy polenta-y goodness.

I had never before cooked polenta in a slow cooker, and to be honest, it isn't the best use of the machine, since it doesn't take too long to cook - for me, the slow cooker is about being able to load it up 8 hours in advance before the day really begins, and then have dinner pretty much sorted when the day is ending. However, it does work well, so if you happen to be available to do a minimal amount of prep 3 hours before dinner time, have at it, but if you have a more normal schedule and are driving kids from pillar to post all afternoon, I cannot see why it wouldn't be perfectly possible to cook this in a more traditional way on the stove-top. I would then saute the veggies just a touch though, so that they are not too crunchy in the final dish, and maybe mix them in about 5 minutes before the polenta is ready. Then all you need is a nice salad to accompany it, and that glass of red wine.



Polenta with Ribbons
adapted from The Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone
Serves 6+

7 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups polenta (not instant polenta)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
3 cups finely shredded kale
2 cans white beans (e.g. Cannellini beans), drained and rinsed
ground black pepper
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 TBSP olive oil

1. In the slow cooker, stir together the polenta, water, garlic and salt.
2. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours.
3. Stir in the veggies, beans and pepper to taste (1/2-1 tsp should do it).
4. Cover and cook for a further 60-75 minutes until the polenta has thickened and the veggies are tender.
5. Stir in the olive oil and cheese and serve immediately, sprinkled with more parmesan if desired.