Mediterranean Vegetable Polenta Recipe – Heart-Healthy, Satisfying Vegan Entree with Creamy Turmeric Polenta and a Flavorful Vegetable Ragout
I consider polenta to be one of my ultimate comfort foods. This simple cornmeal mush has been eaten and enjoyed for centuries all over the world. While we typically associate polenta with Italy, it is consumed in various regions and preparations. In France it became popular during the French revolution and was typically served with wild game and cheese or dressed with sauce. 16th century Portuguese brought cornmeal to Africa where it spread along Arab trade routes; it was fed to African slaves during transport because it was cheap and easy to transport. The Pennsylvania Dutch mix it with meat scraps. Romanians dubbed it mamaliga, serving it as a porridge or in small cake form. Romanian immigrants brought it with them to New York, where it became a common dish on Jewish deli menus. It Italy it is beloved both as a porridge and in cake form; it is sometimes mixed with buckwheat in a preparation known as polenta taragna.
When maize was first brought by Columbus to Europe it was looked on with suspicion, even by Italians. However, it didn’t take very long for folks to warm to the concept of corn– it was easy and affordable to grow and could be used in a variety of ways. Formerly known as pulmentum, the ancient Roman name for pottage, polenta became a dietary staple for ancient Roman soldiers. They would eat their polenta rations as a hard cake or a porridge. Polenta grew in popularity throughout the centuries for its simplicity, affordability and delicious flavor.
This polenta topped with a simple, flavorful Mediterranean chickpea ragout makes a filling and comforting meal. I’ve kept things vegan here, opting to add coconut milk and turmeric to the polenta for a creamy, savory flavor. Feel free to add parmesan to the mix if you’re not worried about keeping things dairy free. Enjoy!
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Beauty shots and styling by Bethany Nauert.
Mediterranean Vegetable Polenta
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 8 ounces mushrooms chopped
- 1 1/2 cups onion diced small (about 1 1/2 onions)
- 1 3/4 teaspoons salt divided
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch black pepper
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas or 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 3/4 cups diced fresh tomatoes or 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
- 4 whole medium squash (yellow and/or zucchini) diced
- 1 large eggplant diced
- 1 whole red bell pepper diced
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
- 3 cups water
- 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk (regular or light)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 1/4 cups cornmeal, fine ground
NOTES
Instructions
- For the ragout: Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms, onions and 1/2 tsp of salt. Cook until browned, then stir in the smoked paprika, cumin, crushed red pepper, coriander, cinnamon, black pepper and garlic; cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Stir in the balsamic vinegar, scraping the pan to remove any brown bits. Add the chickpeas and 3/4 cup water to the pan along with diced tomatoes, squash, eggplant, bell pepper and sun-dried tomatoes, stir well to combine. Reduce heat to medium low and cover. Cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, 20-30 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste if desired.
- Just before serving, stir in the fresh chopped basil.
- For the polenta: In a medium saucepan combine 3 cups water, coconut milk, 1 tbsp olive oil, turmeric and 1 1/4 tsp salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and slowly whisk in the cornmeal. Simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture is smooth, tender, and creamy, about 15-18 minutes.
- Serve the ragout over the cooked warm polenta. Garnish with additional fresh basil if desired.
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
Other Great Recipe Ideas
Simply Recipes – Eggplant Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses
Weelicious – Mediterranean Grilled Veggie Wraps
Research Source:
Fussell, Betty Harper. The Story of Corn. University of New Mexico Press, 1992.
The only problem with this recipe (and many others by many chefs) is that veggies should be shown by weight or measure. There are two reasons for this 1> when recipes are scaled up or down you get really funny “measurements” i.e. “.67 large eggplants” 2>depending on where you live and the veggies can vary tremedously in size. Now I know this isn’t baking where amounts can have huge impacts on the final product. But if I want to replicate the dish you labored so hard to perfect, I would prefer to have the correct portion of each ingredient.
That aside, happy to have found your site and very excited to make dish that reminds me of what my italian grandmother made.
Delicious
Made it the second time last night for our meals today
Thank you for sharing
Made it now the second time. It was a bug success on both times. The dish is very rich and flavorful. The only thing I changed is making it with pumpkin instead of zucchini. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
I’ve made it a few times now and it is absolutely delicious! I’m not an eggplant fan and my husband doesn’t like mushrooms 😃🤣 but for some reason it sounded good so I made. Am I ever glad I did. We both love it eggplant and mushrooms and all! I think the spices are fantastic and really make the dish. I make the polenta with water and soymilk because I didn’t want all the fat calories. Thank you. It’s a delightfully delirious and nutritious meal.
Your presentation and outline of recipes is the best I’ve ever seen. Thanks for the assistance.
Why thank you Kevin! I do try hard to make everything as clear as possible.
Great recipe. Will nourish the body and soul of some of my friends that are not feeling well. Thank you!!
Changed it up a touch, converting polenta into arepas, and I added scallops… thanks for the inspiration! Too bad I can’t attach a pic!
I made this because I am always looking for new and different plant-based meals. And it looked beautiful. But, I had my doubts. I am here to say the dish is beautiful and it is also delicious. My husband raved about it! My only changes were to roast the vegetables because I had the time and wanted to remove some water from them and we sprinkled about a teaspoon of feta on the top. Which was not necessary! So, this is a delicious, different, vegan dinner. And makes a ton. Hank you!
So happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
I made your dish last night — part of my recent (4 month kick) to cook a plant-based meal every Wednesday (it’s a start) and, always, give credit to where I found the recipe. I have never made polenta before and have only eaten it once. In your recipe, you call for “fine ground corn meal”. I ended up buying corn meal that was labeled for polenta but was “coarse ground”. I compared it to the box of corn meal that I think every household has which does not specify the ground size — and it was clearly a finer grain than the one I had bought labeled for polenta. I think it turned out OK but it took about 45 mins to cook and wasn’t as creamy as the one time I ate polenta at a restaurant.
Can you give more detail about the corn meal that you use for polenta?
Thanks very much for sharing the recipe — it was quite good (and my wife loves that I am actually cooking & eating vegetables!).
Thank you for this great recipe! My son is almost 2 and he also every last drop, we just loved it!
Tori,
I have made this recipe twice now. First time I made it for my daughter, who immediately went home and made it for friends. This week I made it to eat while watching football! Who needs Chili , I am not a vegetarian or vegan, but I love this meal as it is so flavorful. You may want to have enough ingredients around to double the Polenta, as the ragout makes plenty.
Just made this. Delicious! Even our meat-eating son loved it. I always make a recipe without substitutions the first time, and there’s not much I would change except perhaps the spice amounts. We like a lot of flavor, so I will probably double everything next time.
By the way, even though I am 61, I never made polenta before, and that I now regret! It was so easy, and tastes yummy. Thank you for the recipe.
OH. MAH. GAH.
This recipe is KILLER. Man-o-man is it good!
Hi, Tori,
Your recipe sounds delicious, and I would like to try it. I love all the veggies in a ragout!
I love coconut milk, however my husband and kids don’t. I could substitute almond milk but would like to try the coconut. Does it give a noticeable taste of coconut in this dish? I’d like to try to sneak it in! lol
Hi Lisa! I would say give it a try, it doesn’t have an overwhelming coconut flavor. With all of the other flavors to balance they might not even notice. Enjoy!
I’ve made this multiple times for family and friends and it’s always a hit! Perfect!
Absolutely loved this. Have tried it on meat eating family and they thought it was delicious too.
Soo delicious! We enjoyed it immensely ?.
Glad to hear that Mim!
That looks so pretty. You have such a gift for presenting food in an appealing way.
Awesome recipe, I did the polenta exactly as instructed…I’m convinced you could put a shoe on top of that and it would be delicious!
Wowowow! Great recipe!
Followed ingredients to the letter and perfection!
Like the previous review…I also had to cook ragout much longer than 15 min.
I’m so glad I came across this recipe! Thank you!
Thanks for the note Katherine! I’ve updated the cooking instructions, 20-30 minutes is probably more realistic. Appreciate the feedback and so happy you liked it!