Winter

Andouille and Dijon Polenta

by:
November 30, 2009
3.7
3 Ratings
Andouille and Dijon Polenta
  • Serves 4 as a side dish, or two as a main
Author Notes

I've combined two of my favorite dishes into this Andouille and Dijon Polenta. I've borrowed the andouille sausage from dirty (or Cajun) rice, a go-to comfort food of mine, while also borrowing a dijon lemon cream sauce that I like to use in scallop risotto. The polenta comes out so smooth and creamy thanks to the sauce, and the mixture of fennel in the andouille, dijon, lemon zest, and tarragon make for a rich yet bright flavor at the same time. —theicp

Test Kitchen Notes

A one-dish meal that calls for nothing more than an accompanying green salad, The Internet Princess's polenta is as creamy and rich as it gets, but it's far from a one-note wonder. There's a subtle tang from the Dijon, and it's studded with bits of spicy andouille and flecked with fresh spinach and tarragon -- the latter managing to keep things just short of excessive. We'd never made polenta this way before (you build a base with the sausage and onions, then add chicken stock and polenta, cooking the ingredients all together), but we definitely will in the future. If you can't find raw andouille, you can just brown chopped pre-cooked andouille in a bit of olive oil, like we did. - A&M —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup polenta
  • 3 Cup chicken stock
  • 3/4 Lb Andouille sauage, ground or casings removed
  • 1 White onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 Cup spinach, chopped
  • 1/2 Cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 Cup white wine
  • 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 1 Teaspoon garlic paste
  • 1 Teaspoon lemon zest
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 Tablespoon of butter, broken into quarters (optional)
  • 1 Teaspoon tarragon, chopped
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Directions
  1. In a large saute pan on medium high heat, break up the andouille sausage and cook all the way through - about five minutes.
  2. Once the andouille is browned, add the diced onion and cook in the fat from the sausage for about three to five minutes or until the onions are translucent.
  3. Add the chicken stock to the pan, and bring to a boil on high heat. Once the stock is boiling, slowly whisk in the polenta.
  4. Reduce the heat of the pan and periodically stir the polenta to prevent clumping for about ten minutes or until the stock seems to have been absorbed by the polenta.
  5. Meanwhile, make the Dijon sauce by adding the white wine and heavy whipping cream to a smaller sauté pan on low heat. Whisk for about a minute, then add the Dijon, garlic paste, tarragon, and lemon zest. Continue to whisk for another few minutes so that all the ingredients are properly incorporated.
  6. Stir the dijon sauce and chopped spinach into the polenta, ensuring that all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Top with a few pats of butter and season with some hefty pinches of salt and pepper. Serve as a side or make it your main course with a simple salad.
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42 Reviews

Lex
Lex August 8, 2016
I made a vegan version of this using soy mince with spices used from an andouille sausage recipe, thick cashew cream, it was really delicious and different to anything I've made before, thanks for the idea :)
 
sevenfaces
sevenfaces March 15, 2014
I've had this recipe bookmarked for such a long time! It's a real feast for the eyes, especially in cold weather. The sauce was great, the polenta tasted different to how I expected it to though, almost as if the andouille was out of place. When it comes to polenta I always follow recipes exactly, maybe some tweaking to my personal tastes is required. Probably more stock, cook the polenta a little longer, and subbing the andouille for another meat product like chicken sausage... we'll see!
 
cookinalong
cookinalong April 16, 2013
I'd like to try this but I'm a little puzzled about the short cooking time. I usually cook polenta for at least 45 minutes. This seems to call for 20 minutes or so. Do the other ingredients influence the cooking time?
 
tinaathena
tinaathena April 2, 2013
super tasty! I just made this w/ thyme in lieu of tarragon and I think it's great! I will make this recipe lots. Probably will skip heating up the sauce, but just prepare it well before I start browning the sausages.
 
hilary F.
hilary F. February 28, 2013
can you make this a day ahead?
 
Jennifer L.
Jennifer L. January 6, 2013
Just made it for dinner - the whole family loved it!
 
Erin.Quinn
Erin.Quinn December 15, 2012
Would it change the recipe drastically to use mild italian sausage? I don't like things too hot.
 
koc
koc May 10, 2012
Delicious!
 
ralimage
ralimage April 1, 2011
Can you substitute half/half for the whipping cream?
 
HandRocksLadle
HandRocksLadle February 16, 2011
What a great recipe! I added one serrano chili, roughly chopped, to add a little kick -- you'll need an extra glass of water, but it's delicious!
 
lajuliaficationdumonde
lajuliaficationdumonde January 26, 2011
Yum! Thank you for convincing me to try polenta again... I am trying to re-integrate it into my diet... even with all of my self-induced cooking snafus it was delicious. http://lajuliaficationdumonde.wordpress.com/2011/01/22/andouille-and-dijon-polenta/
 
captainjoe
captainjoe October 21, 2010
plan to try this as a special on our menu.
 
lbn
lbn May 13, 2010
I liked this a lot-- a bit different, nice and tangy. I didn't want to it to be too sausage-heavy, so I fiddled with the proportions and used half the sausage (6 oz.) and 2/3 of all of the rest of the ingredients. That worked well for me and made two hearty meals.
 
Neophyte
Neophyte April 24, 2010
Lovely meal, thank you. I made this as a main dish for my (picky/finicky) octogenarian parents and the dinner was a complete success-they each ate second servings. Given that my mother's meds prevent her from ingesting alcohol, I substituted the white wine with chicken stock. This dish was so yummy that I'm making it (again as a main) for dinner with friends next Saturday. Tomorrow I'm off to the Dupont Circle Farmer's Market to hunt for some fresh anduille sausage.
 
jifferb
jifferb February 2, 2010
this was delicious! i added an extra 1/2-1 tablespoond of dijon - but i could not get andouille and used a thuringer bratwurst instead. not as spicey - i used more mustard to compensate.. loved!
 
theicp
theicp February 2, 2010
So glad you liked it!!
 
Maria T.
Maria T. December 20, 2009
Well done and CONGRATULATIONS! The recipe is very interesting, all looks delicious. Thank you for sharing it.
 
Oui, C.
Oui, C. December 17, 2009
Congrats on your win! So glad this one made the book.
 
theicp
theicp December 17, 2009
Thank you!!
 
dymnyno
dymnyno December 16, 2009
CONGRATULATIONS! Your recipe sounds sooo yummy...I thought I was done with polenta for a while until I read yours.
 
theicp
theicp December 17, 2009
Thanks! I was frustrated with polenta too. Thank goodness for this contest - it made me innovate a little bit!
 
WinnieAb
WinnieAb December 16, 2009
Such an original and seemingly very delicious polenta recipe...congrats on winning and looking forward to making this over the holidays!
 
theicp
theicp December 17, 2009
Thank you! You'll have to let me know how it goes!
 
arielleclementine
arielleclementine December 16, 2009
congratulations :)
 
theicp
theicp December 16, 2009
Thank you! Your recipe looked very tasty too - I can't wait to see more of your postings!