Baked Polenta with Leeks and Blue Cheese
I spent the last week on a fantastic vacation in Portugal.
Portugal is surely not the most difficult place to be vegetarian, but it's not really the easiest, either. Below, for example, is the menu from one restaurant where we had dinner. You will note the two categories of food: fish and meat. That's it! No further categories!
My sister had informed me before I left on the trip that octopus is a Portugese specialty, and I found myself eating a ton of octopus, and loving it. Sorry, cephalopods!
I am now working on reverting to mostly-vegetarianism, and tonight I made "Baked Polenta With Crispy Leeks and Blue Cheese," from NYT Cooking (subscription required).
As you surely have noted by now, I must always make at least one error when cooking, but tonight's was minor: I dumped in all the polenta at once on the stove, rather than adding it slowly as called for in the recipe. There was a deeply alarming moment when the mix was sending up gigantic bubbles and I feared I'd burn myself, but I managed to regain the upper hand and the dish turned out as envisioned. And it was good. Not great, but good. The flavors all worked together very nicely.
I think if I made it again, I would try putting all the gorgonzola into the polenta rather than half on top. And following the suggestions of other reviewers, I used 1 1/3 cups of polenta rather than one.
Portugal is surely not the most difficult place to be vegetarian, but it's not really the easiest, either. Below, for example, is the menu from one restaurant where we had dinner. You will note the two categories of food: fish and meat. That's it! No further categories!
My sister had informed me before I left on the trip that octopus is a Portugese specialty, and I found myself eating a ton of octopus, and loving it. Sorry, cephalopods!
I am now working on reverting to mostly-vegetarianism, and tonight I made "Baked Polenta With Crispy Leeks and Blue Cheese," from NYT Cooking (subscription required).
As you surely have noted by now, I must always make at least one error when cooking, but tonight's was minor: I dumped in all the polenta at once on the stove, rather than adding it slowly as called for in the recipe. There was a deeply alarming moment when the mix was sending up gigantic bubbles and I feared I'd burn myself, but I managed to regain the upper hand and the dish turned out as envisioned. And it was good. Not great, but good. The flavors all worked together very nicely.
I think if I made it again, I would try putting all the gorgonzola into the polenta rather than half on top. And following the suggestions of other reviewers, I used 1 1/3 cups of polenta rather than one.
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| Served with roasted broccoli |
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