00:00Hello this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with baked pumpkin polenta. That's right we're
00:09giving a savory pumpkin twist to what I think is probably the best way to enjoy polenta. And that
00:15would mean it's much more interesting, more visually appealing baked form. And you'll see
00:20why shortly. But this is just as much a magic trick as it is a recipe. And to get started we
00:26will toss some butter into some olive oil that we've drizzled into a saucepan set over medium
00:30high heat. And of course whenever the butter lands like that we have to wait for it to fall over
00:35before we move to the next shot. There we go. And what we'll do as soon as the butter melts is toss
00:42in some sage leaves. And we will briefly fry those in this hot oil and butter for just a few seconds
00:48until they turn crisp. And just as soon as they're dark green and they've stopped bubbling they're
00:53done. Which happens so fast I couldn't even show you the exact moment. But as soon as it does we'll
00:59pull those out and we'll turn off our heat. And we'll reserve those on a paper towel lined plate.
01:04Since besides flavoring our fat we can also use those as a garnish. And by the way those little
01:10brown specks you see in the pan are not from the sage. Those are actually caramelized milk solids
01:15from the butter. Which are not only not a problem they're actually a very good thing. Since that's
01:20gonna add a little bit of toasty nuttiness. And then once our sage is out we can transfer our
01:25pumpkin in. Which is gonna be one can of pure pumpkin puree. And not, I repeat not pumpkin pie
01:32filling. Oh yeah you only make that mistake once. And then to our pure pumpkin we will add some nice
01:38cold fresh water. And we can also raise our heat up to high since we want this to come up to a boil.
01:44And while we're waiting for that to happen we'll go ahead and season this up with some kosher salt
01:49as well as some freshly ground black pepper. And then we can take a whisk and give everything a mix.
01:55And like I said we'll wait for this to come to a boil. And once it does we will grab our whisk.
02:00And we will slowly whisk in our fine cornmeal. Which by the way I'm not very good at. I always
02:07add things too fast and too quickly. Especially now that I'm getting older. But unless you really
02:13dump it in super fast you're probably not gonna have any problems with lumps. And if you do see
02:18a couple don't worry just keep whisking. Since this will thicken up quickly and those will
02:23disappear as you whisk. And you'll notice as soon as you add that in it will thicken up almost
02:28instantly. So at this stage we want to keep whisking pretty much continually. And also we'll
02:34reduce our heat to medium-low since we have to cook this for about 20 to 25 minutes. And if our
02:39heat's too high the bottom is gonna want to stick and it could scorch. So we will lower our heat and
02:45keep whisking. But good news we do not have to whisk the entire 20 to 25 minutes. As some overly
02:53cautious chefs will tell you. Okay after the initial couple minutes of whisking we can simply
02:58let this cook on medium-low. And we only have to whisk it every like three or four minutes maybe.
03:03Since the only reason we're whisking it is so that it doesn't start to stick to the bottom.
03:07And if it's not doing that you're doing good. And yes you heard me correctly earlier. We're using
03:13fine cornmeal for this and not polenta. Which is generally ground coarser. And I do like to use
03:19actual polenta when I'm doing the soft version that you spoon in the bowl. But it's a proven
03:23scientific fact that the fine cornmeal works better for the baked version. But anyway like
03:29I said we'll cook that for about 25 minutes. At which point it's going to have thickened up a
03:34little bit. But it's not really going to look that much different. And the way to tell if you're
03:38really done is to take a little bit on a spoon and give it a taste. And if it's ready it should
03:43be nice and creamy and soft. But if it still feels kind of gritty it's not done. And we'll need to
03:48let it simmer a little more until it isn't gritty. And once we determine it's cooked long enough we
03:54will turn off the heat. And we will add our last few ingredients. Including a couple shakes of cayenne.
04:00As well as a little splash of milk. Plus a whole bunch of freshly grated parmesan cheese.
04:06And of course we're going to use the real stuff. Parmigiano-Reggiano. And yes you have to grate it
04:11yourself. Which even if you're really slow is going to take you about 30 seconds. And then what
04:16we'll do is take our whisk and give this a thorough mixing until everything is beautifully and evenly
04:21combined. And then once that's been accomplished we will transfer that into a very generously
04:26olive oiled cake pan. And if you're keeping score at home this is 9 by 9 inches. Oh and when I
04:32mentioned the magic trick part earlier what I'm referring to is that this stuff is so soft and
04:38loose when it's hot. But somehow some way using this technique we're going to be able to bake
04:43squares of this that hold their shape. I know it does seem impossible but it is very very possible.
04:51And for that to happen the first thing we have to do is let this cool down to room temp on the
04:55counter. At which point we'll cover this in plastic and pop it in the fridge for a minimum of three
05:00hours. Although I almost always do this in the evening and let it sit overnight. But anyway three
05:06hours is the minimum. And once thoroughly chilled we'll pull it out and if everything goes according
05:12to plan if we turn that over and maybe give it the old shake-a-shake-a it should come right out
05:17nice and clean. And yes as you can see because of the pan I used this one is ribbed for your visual
05:24pleasure. But whether yours has a cool line pattern or not what we'll do is take a knife and cut this
05:29into equal rectangles. Or at least that's what I'm doing. I guess you could cut this into as many
05:35pieces as you want. And if you don't have a square cake pan and only a round one you can just cut
05:40wedges and it will work the same. And then once we have that cut up we will transfer our now beautifully
05:46firm polenta onto a sheet pan that we've lined with a silpat or some parchment paper. And then
05:52we can if we want just bake it at this point. But I do like to add a little bit of cheese on top.
05:57Or maybe a little bit of mozzarella or provolone or fontina. Or in my case a Monterey Jack.
06:04And besides a little more interesting appearance and a little extra flavor
06:08I'm also doing some cheese because I'm going to top this with some fried sage.
06:12And I think that's going to make for a beautiful color contrast when we place that on top.
06:17And that's it. Once those tops have been cheesed I'm going to add a little sprinkle of cayenne
06:22just for a little extra touch of heat. But also to sort of warm up the color of the top.
06:27And if you don't want the extra heat you can do the same thing with some paprika.
06:31And that's it. These are now ready to transfer into the center of a 425 degree oven for about
06:3730 minutes or until they're fully heated through. And they look like this. Oh yeah those are pretty.
06:44But you know what I think we can make them a little bit prettier if we top them with some
06:48fried sage leaves which could be the ones we use to flavor our oil and butter. But since I was
06:53baking mine the next day I did fry up a fresh batch so they look extra nice. But anyway that'll
06:59be up to you and you can just serve these plain. I mean you are after all the lord of how to garnish
07:05your baked cornmeal with gourd. And that's it. Once I had those garnished I went ahead and served
07:10one up so I can grab a fork and go in for the official taste and show you what's going on.
07:16And you'll see as I try to cut this with the edge of the fork how the inside's very soft and creamy
07:21and fluffy. But that's all surrounded by sort of a crusty skin which is basically somehow holding
07:26everything together. Which as I touched on earlier really is the magic to bake polenta.
07:32That somehow we got something so soft and creamy and runny to stay in this beautifully neat
07:37geometric package. I mean that loose corn mush we spooned into a bowl is fine but texturally speaking
07:44I prefer this version much more. Oh and if you've never had fried sage before it's actually crispy
07:50which is why you should crumble it up and mix it into the other goodness. And as far as the
07:55taste goes if you blindfolded a friend with their consent of course and you fed them some of this
08:02I doubt they'd be able to tell you there was pumpkin in it since it's completely savory in
08:06this application and we did not defile it with pumpkin spice. So if you were worried about that
08:12don't. What we're getting here is a very subtly sweet earthiness and since it is so similar to
08:18classic polenta we're not only able to enjoy this as a holiday side dish next to a turkey or a ham
08:24but also in any of those classic italian ways we'd enjoy regular polenta. Like for example serve with
08:29a beautiful beef ragu. And if there's a better combination of saucy meat and starchy comforting
08:35side dish I do not know what it is because that my friends was perfect. But whether you serve this
08:42with a weeknight ragu or a special occasion holiday dinner this baked polenta is very easy
08:48very beautiful and extremely delicious. Which is why I really do hope you give this a try
08:53soon. So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts
08:58a printable written recipe and much more info as usual. And as always, enjoy!
09:18you
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