Gemüseeintopf mit Polenta (vegetable stew with polenta)
A brothy vegetable stew ladled over soft, freshly cooked polenta instead of served with bread, so the polenta soaks up the broth at the edges while staying creamy in the centre. The polenta needs constant stirring right up to the point it thickens, which is the one step in this dish that cannot be left unattended.
Christoph's vegetable stew over polenta, the polenta stirred smooth rather than left to catch and lump on the bottom of the pot.
Ingredients
Written for a 4 L pot
Stew
- 200 g carrot, peeled, diced rounded
- 200 g zucchini, diced rounded
- 200 g red bell pepper, diced rounded
- 150 g onion, finely chopped rounded
- 2 garlic cloves rounded
- 30 g olive oil rounded
- 400 g chopped tomatoes rounded
- 700 ml vegetable broth rounded
- 2 g dried oregano rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
- to taste freshly ground black pepper rounded
Polenta
- 900 ml water rounded
- 200 g coarse polenta rounded
- 5 g fine salt rounded
- 30 g butter rounded
- 40 g grated hard cheese (optional) rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Sweat the onion and garlic for 3 minutes, then add the carrot, zucchini and pepper and sweat a further 5 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, broth and oregano. Bring to a simmer and cook 25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil in a separate pot with the salt. Pour in the polenta in a steady stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.
- Reduce the heat to low and stir constantly, or very frequently, for about 30 minutes, until the polenta pulls away from the sides of the pot and no longer tastes gritty. Stir in the butter and cheese if using.
- Spoon the polenta into bowls and ladle the vegetable stew over the top.
Method in the Thermomix
Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers cooking the polenta; the stew is made conventionally in a separate pot on the stove, or in the same bowl beforehand if you prefer to do both in sequence.
- Make the stew as in the hand method, in a separate pot, or in the Thermomix bowl first with the butterfly removed, using speed 1 for sautéing and reverse / speed 1 for the simmer, then tip out and keep warm.
- Rinse the bowl. Insert the butterfly. Water and salt into the bowl. Heat 5 min / 100°C / speed 2.
- With the machine running on speed 2, pour the polenta in through the lid opening in a steady stream. Cook 25 min / 100°C / speed 2.
- Remove the butterfly, stir in the butter and cheese, and serve as in the hand method.
Notes
- Do not walk away from the polenta on the stovetop. Left unstirred for even a couple of minutes, it catches on the bottom and scorches, which no amount of stirring afterward fixes.
- Coarse polenta gives more texture than the quick-cook variety, and is worth the extra stirring time for this dish specifically.
- The stew can be made well ahead and reheated; the polenta is best made fresh, since it stiffens considerably as it cools and does not reheat to the same texture.
- Leftover polenta, poured into a dish and chilled, can be sliced and pan-fried the next day as a separate side.
Ingredient substitutions
- Zucchini and pepper can be any vegetables that hold their shape in a simmer; mushrooms and green beans both work.
- Grated hard cheese in the polenta is optional but adds richness; leave it out for a dairy-lighter version.
- Chopped tomatoes can be tomato passata for a smoother stew base.
From Christoph Mayer