Tempeh and Aubergine Ragu with Cheesy Garlic Polenta
Have you ever tried polenta before? Many of you have probably had polenta fries - they’re so yum - but have you ever had a creamy bowl of polenta before, topped with sweet or savoury goodness?
I absolutely love it! Sometimes I add vanilla to it and top with warm berries but on chilly spring days like today I love it pack with cheesy flavours and loaded with rich veggies for a real cosy dinner.
Check this recipe out! This is my version of a Bolognese and instead of using soy mince or even lentils, i have gone for tempeh! As many of you know, I am not too into meat replacements, I’d rather stick to veg as much as possible. so you may be thinking, why not lentils?
Well, lentils don’t really agree with my tummy and from speaking to quite a lot of other people, I discovered I am not alone on this one, so I tend not to consume them too often so I find this tempeh recipe a great alternative. And who doesn’t love tempeh, you know I’d take a fermented food any day.
… and don’t forget to tag us in your creations @wildrootkitchen.
Tempeh and Aubergine Ragu with Cheesy Garlic Polenta
Serves 4
40 minutes
Ingredients
For Tempeh and Aubergine Ragu:
200g Better Nature Organic Tempeh
1 red onion, diced
1 aubergine, diced
1 courgette, diced
2 clove of garlic, crushed
1 can of plum tomatoes
200ml passata
60g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
15g fresh basil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp Italian herbs
2 tbsp lemon juice
400ml-600ml boiling water
salt and pepper to taste
For the Cheesy Garlic Polenta:
140g dried polenta
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 clove of garlic, crushed
750ml-1000ml almond milk
salt to taste
To Serve:
Wild Root ‘Parmezan’ - coming soon!
Preparation
Start being dicing the veg for the ragu. Add onion to a pan with a little oil and fry for 5-7 minutes until translucent. At this point add the crushed garlic and saute for a minute before adding the aubergine and courgette. Fry off all the veg until soften, approx 10 minutes.
Once veg is softened add plum tomatoes and passata to the pan along with 300ml of boiling water. Bring to the boil. Crumble in the tempeh. Add sun-dried tomatoes, chilli flakes, Italian herbs and balsamic vinegar.
Once boiling, turn down to simmer for 35 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick. if the ragu becomes too thick add the additional 300ml of boiling water.
After 35 minutes, season liberally, stir through fresh basil and taste. Keep on a low heat whilst you prepare your polenta.
In a saucepan add a drizzle of oil and saute crushed garlic on a low heat. Once the garlic is golden but not burnt pour in 250ml of milk and warm through.
Then slowly start to to whisk in the polenta, as the polenta starts to thicken add more milk up to 1000ml in total or until you achieve the desired consistency. You want you polenta to be porridge-like consistency. Continuously whisk until to make sure that you don’t get any lumps.
Lastly add salt to taste and 4 tbsp of nutritional yeast to give it an extra cheesy flavour.
Now to plate up. Divide the polenta between 4 bowls and smooth with the back of a spoon. Now spoon over the warm rich ragu and top with our delicious Parezan… enjoy!
