All day my son and I have been spending time cooking some creative dishes. He is out of school for Spring break so we get to have some fun in the kitchen. I love trying new things, so today I mixed butternut squash into my polenta recipe. It tasted delicious!  I also made an organic ragout. I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Polenta with butternut squash with a veggie ragout

You will need:

Polenta:

1 1/2 cups of yellow corn grits

4 cups of water

1/2 cup of organic butternut squash ( frozen)

1/2  cup of 5 Italian Blend shredded cheese

Dash of black pepper, salt and garlic powder

Ragout

1 tbs of  olive oil

2 small zucchinis ( diced)

1 half of a med onion( chopped roughly)

1 med tomato (  deseeded and chopped size of the onions)

1/2 cup of smoked sundried tomatoes ( have that bacon taste)

2 garlic cloves ( chopped finely)

1/2 cup of dried porcini mushrooms

1/2  tsp of dried fennel seed

1/2 tsp of italian seasonings

1/2 tsp of sea salt

1/2 tsp of garlic powder

Dash of black pepper to taste. I like it a little spicy. 🙂

1/2 cup of water to keep ragout wet until veggies are tender ( I add water as needed, this is optional the tomatoes should give you enough water)

Ragout

Sauté  onions and zucchini until transparent.

Add the the raw tomatoes and the garlic and sauté for 5 minutes.

Add all  your spices and stir all the veggies.

Bring everything to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

About 5 minutes before the dish is done add the mushrooms and sundried tomatoes to rehydrate. Continue to cook.

Serve on top of the Polenta

Polenta

Bring water to a boil. Add Butternut Squash. Allow to cook for 10 minutes remove the squash and mash most of it up in a bowl. Leave some pieces whole it makes the polenta look pretty. Add squash back to water. Bring the water back to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Pour in polenta steadily, stirring constantly. Continue to stir until polenta is thickened.  Add the cheese, black pepper, garlic and sea salt.  Stir throughly. It should come away from sides of the pan, and be able to support a spoon. Cooking time 20 to 30 minutes.

To plate with LOVE:

Put polenta in a nice plate or bowl.
Add the Ragout and top with some of the 5 italian cheese blend or some parmesan. Sprinkle some parsley flakes for garnish and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Oh yes one last thing. Set the table with LOVE.