Weeknight Cooking

Roasted Mushrooms with Sherry + Creamy Polenta

September  5, 2016
4.5
4 Ratings
Photo by Alexandra Stafford
  • Serves 2 to 3
Author Notes

A clever way to roast mushrooms, adapted from a recipe in Sally Schneider's A New Way to Cook, meets the Canal House ladies' creamy polenta, a favorite fall combination. —Alexandra Stafford

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Ingredients
  • For the polenta:
  • 1 cup milk, optional
  • 1 cup polenta or stone-ground coarse cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • For the roasted mushrooms:
  • 1 pound mushrooms, such as a mix of cremini and shiitakes
  • few sprigs thyme
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup sherry or dry white wine
  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus more to taste
  • kosher salt
  • freshly cracked pepper
Directions
  1. For the polenta, put 4 cups of cold water into a medium, heavy-bottomed pot with the 1 cup of milk, if using. Alternatively use 5 cups cold water. Stir in the polenta and the teaspoon of kosher salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high high, stirring often. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the polenta stirring occasionally, until it is tender, 45 to 60 minutes. The polenta will swell and thicken as it cooks. If it gets too thick before it's finished cooking, stir in more water as needed. Stir in the butter. Taste, and add more salt as needed.
  2. Meanwhile, make the roasted mushrooms: Preheat the oven to 325° F. Remove the stems from the shiitakes (and reserve for stock-making or the compost pile or discard). Trim off the very bottom end of the cremini stems and discard. Quarter the mushrooms.
  3. In a 9- by 13-inch baking dish, combine the mushrooms, thyme sprigs, shallots, garlic, sherry, and olive oil. Season with a big pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Toss to distribute everything evenly, then spread in a an even layer. Cover pan with foil, transfer pan to the oven, and cook for 30 minutes.
  4. Remove pan from the oven and raise the heat to 450° F. Remove the foil. Holding the mushrooms in the pan with a spatula, drain the juices into a small saucepan and set aside. Spread the mushrooms out again, return pan to the oven, and roast until the mushrooms are beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes longer, stirring after 10 minutes.
  5. Bring the juices to a gentle simmer. Let the juices reduce slowly while the mushrooms finish cooking—they don't need to reduce by half or any particular amount, but the flavors will concentrate as it simmers/reduces. When the mushroom are nearly done, add the tablespoon of butter to the juices. When it has incorporated into the juices, taste them. Adjust seasoning as needed with more salt or butter to taste.
  6. To serve: Ladle polenta into bowls, spoon mushrooms over top, drizzle with sauce.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

I write the blog alexandra's kitchen, a place for mostly simple, sometimes fussy, and always seasonal recipes. My cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs is available everywhere books are sold.

17 Reviews

Katie December 9, 2020
I’ve made this for my hunny so many times he learned how to make it himself. It’s a favorite that we come back to again and again, trying all kinds of different shrooms, sometimes wine or vermouth in place of sherry, chili flakes, etc.
KarenM October 27, 2020
This was sooo good. I roasted large ( 2") pieces of a boneless lamb roast I had in the freezer with the mushrooms. Shitakes and cremini mushrooms were also on hand. I'll make this again and again.
Steven W. February 4, 2017
Is there any mushroom that wouldn't work with this? I am thinking about regular button or baby portabellas.
Alexandra S. February 5, 2017
I think both of those will be fine, the baby portabellas in particular.
tessga January 14, 2017
a fantastic dish, very luxurious and filling. a great addition to meatless dinners.
Alexandra S. January 15, 2017
So great to hear this.
louisez October 30, 2016
Thanks for this recipe. Great with or without the polenta. My husband is obsessed (given that he's the pickiest eater in the universe, that's saying something).
Alexandra S. October 30, 2016
Yay! So happy to hear this. I love these mushrooms, too. So good on toast. Yum.
Lisa B. October 13, 2016
OMG! I made this for dinner tonight - used only Cremini mushrooms. I added a bit of fresh Parm to the polenta. Absolutely delicious!
Alexandra S. October 13, 2016
So happy to hear this! Also, parm sounds like an amazing addition. Definitely doing that next time.
yiayia September 16, 2016
Here in Connecticut, our summer has been hot and dry, and suddenly, the temperatures dipped down into the 50s last night--a perfect night for your polenta and mushrooms. I picked up some really nice mushrooms from the farmers' market and used up some arugula micro-greens which I mixed into the mushrooms. Delicious and satisfying, but I didn't find it heavy.
Alexandra S. October 13, 2016
love the sound of those arugula micro-greens! So happy you liked this one.
Steven M. September 10, 2016
Added fired egg to this.....polenta, egg, mushrooms, and sauce.....very, very rich! Took the leftover polenta put it in a 13x9 glass pan and stuck it in the refrigerator. Tomorrow or next day will cut it and fry it for breakfast...
Alexandra S. September 11, 2016
Nice! The Canal House ladies actually suggest a fried egg on top ... sounds so good.
Kenzi W. September 9, 2016
Dang. I can't wait to make this.
Alexandra S. September 9, 2016
I think of you every time I make mush. I hope you will approve!
Kenzi W. September 9, 2016
<3