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Currying favor: Curried Broccoli Pesto over Creamy Polenta

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I have been watching a disturbing amount of Chopped lately on Food Network (thanks, U-Verse!). Watching trained chefs being tortured into producing edible dishes from scratch around oddball ingredients in 15 or 30 minutes (depending on the course) is oddly compelling, as well as occasionally inspiring.

Today's post was dinner earlier this week, and it is inspired by Chopped, as well as a big bag o' broccoli that the Mrs. had purchased from Costco: Curried broccoli pesto over creamy polenta.

For the pesto: bring a pot of water to boil and add about 4 cups of broccoli florets (cut into bite-sized pieces). Boil for about 2 1/2 minutes until just tender. Remove from the pot (reserving about 4 cups of boiling liquid for the polenta), shock in icewater to preserve the color, and drain.

To your food processor, add 1 tablespoon green curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen), 1-2 tablespoons chopped ginger, 3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped, a half-cup or so of fresh basil leaves (I had around 10-12 leaves fresh from my back yard), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce (I was making a vegan version; for better flavor, substitute fish sauce), the juice of one lime, a teaspoon of sambal and/or a tablespoon of Sriracha for some heat, two cups of the cooked broccoli florets, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (or parsley for a lighter flavor -- the Mrs. abhors cilantro, so I used parsley), and about 1/2 cup coconut milk. Process until smooth. Adjust seasonings. Reserve the remaining florets for topping the dish.

For the polenta: bring about 3 1/2 cups of the boiling liquid back to a boil in a saucepan. Stirring, pour in one cup of polenta (coarse corn meal) with a big pinch of salt. Continue to stir, lowering heat to simmer. This will quickly thicken to a heavy porridge (4-5 minutes). At this stage, gradually stir in about one cup of coconut milk. This should take another 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand, covered for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally so that no crust develops. You want the polenta to be creamy -- thick enough so that it will spread only a little on the plate, but not gooey.

To serve, spoon polenta into the centers of pasta plates, top with about a half cup of pesto plus 4-5 floret pieces and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro. Makes about 5 servings.

Goes great with a Victory Prima Pils.

14 thoughts on “Currying favor: Curried Broccoli Pesto over Creamy Polenta”

    2. 1. Friday night
      2. Polenta scares me. I once had "Polenta fries" at a fancy restaurant and didn't like them.

      1. "polenta fries" is fancy for "fried mush sticks". My dad is a big fan of "fried mush".

        polenta is ungodly easy to make. I would recommend going with a cheesy version as a first home attempt. Comfort food.

        1 cup coarse corn meal
        4 cups water
        pinch salt
        1/2 cup grated parmesan
        1/2 cup grated cheese of your choice (not mozzarella -- too stringy)
        1 cup milk
        2 pats of butter

        Bring the water to boil, whisk or stir in the corn meal and salt and lower the heat to simmer. Cook, stirring frequently until thick (7-8 minutes). Incorporate the butter, the milk, and the cheeses, stirring. Serve as a side starch.

        I really don't think polenta needs to cook 30+ minutes, as many recipes claim, unless you want to thicken it to later fry. If that's your goal, cook for a few more minutes, then spread on wax paper on top of a cookie sheet or in a baking dish to cool, You can then cut the polenta into shapes (squares, disks, whatevah) to shallow-fry or broil.

  2. Ever since I started roasting broccoli, I've had trouble eating it any other way. I'll have to try this.

    I'm off to pick up a roast for some italian roast beef sammies to take to my brother's tomorrow.

    1. My kids are pretty devoted to roasted broccoli, but I can get away with it in stir frys and thai curries. This was an edible experiment, and it turned out well.

    1. there is a little bite from the ginger and garlic, but not a lot. If you use the sambal that will up the heat somewhat. I'd put this on the "mild" end of spicy.

      also, be sure to taste the polenta well ahead of time. YMMV on doneness. If it tastes too "grainy" for your preferences, cook longer, adding more water or coconut milk to keep it the right consistency.

      1. I cut the sambal in half. I probably shouldn't have. The kids still wouldn't eat anything but the broccoli.

        I liked it but I think next time I'll just make the pesto and have it with chicken or something. I really liked the pesto. Thanks!

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