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Side Dishes

Polenta Taragna with Mushrooms

Polenta taragna with mushrooms is a main course or side dish from Valtellina, made with cornmeal, buckwheat flour, butter and fontina.
Recipe Polenta Taragna with Mushrooms
  • Difficulty Medium
  • Preparation 20 minutes
  • Cooking 25 minutes
  • Servings for 4 people

Polenta Taragna with Mushrooms is a variation on the better-known Polenta Taragna, which is made practically everywhere. This dish comes from Valtellina, an Alpine valley in Lombardy, and is especially popular in the provinces of Bergamo and Brescia: it is ideal for anyone who wants to warm up with a hot dish that restores body and soul during the winter season.

The mix of cornmeal and buckwheat flour, the addition of fontina and the final topping of mushrooms and their cooking juices make this dish truly hard to resist for anyone lucky enough to find it in front of them. Polenta Taragna with Mushrooms is a main course or side dish to serve at Sunday lunch at grandma’s house or at Christmas dinners.

Polenta Concia, Polenta Taragna and White Polenta are other alternatives to classic Polenta that we have made for you, and we really encourage you to try them. Today’s recipe could be the perfect side dish for a Brasato al Barolo (beef braised in Barolo wine), but now that we have given you this idea, here is the full recipe for Polenta Taragna with Mushrooms.

Ingredients for 4 people

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Method

  1. To make the Polenta Taragna with Mushrooms, start by trimming the cheeses and cutting them into cubes. Bring the water to a boil in a high-sided pan, add a drizzle of oil and pour in both flours, stirring vigorously with a whisk or a wooden spoon. After a few minutes, add the butter and keep stirring, adding the pieces of cheese as well, until everything has melted completely and come together.
  2. Once the polenta is ready, move on to the mushrooms: remove any soil and trim off the ends, rinse them under running water and gently pat them dry with a cloth. Slice the mushrooms. Heat a drizzle of oil and a clove of garlic in a nonstick skillet for a couple of minutes, then add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper to taste and sauté them for a few minutes so they cook through.
  3. Now for the last step: pour the polenta onto a serving platter, use a spoon to make a small well and place the cooked mushrooms in it. Serve your Polenta Taragna with Mushrooms while still hot. Finally, remember to download our App with exclusive content and fewer ads!

Variations and Alternatives

If you don’t like fontina, you can replace it with other typical Valtellina cheeses such as Casera.

Tips

You can make this dish even quicker than it already is by using an instant polenta flour that already has cornmeal and buckwheat flour perfectly blended. If you still want to use the classic method, an electric polenta pot can help.

Storage

Our advice is to eat all of the Polenta Taragna with Mushrooms as soon as it is ready, to enjoy its flavor at its best. You can, however, keep it in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two days.

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