Last year, my husband and I traveled to the UK to do the coast to coast hike across northern England. We started our holiday in Skye Isle, Scotland and finished it in Edinburgh. One of the days in Edinburgh, we had lunch at the Devil’s Advocate restaurant. This was such a neat little restaurant, hidden away in an old alleyway called Advocate’s Close. It had a pub downstairs and a cozy dining room upstairs, with a wrap around outdoor seating area.
They had a small menu with many delicious looking options. One of them was polenta with mushrooms, spinach, and figs. I have to admit that I wouldn’t normally have chosen that dish. Vegetarian dishes can be so hit or miss at restaurants. But, something about it intrigued me. Probably the figs, to be honest. I love figs, and on the East coast, figs have a very small window where grocery stores actually stock fresh figs. So, I’m usually stuck using dried figs, which are great! Just, not the same as fresh.
Anywho, so I ordered this dish and OMG it was fricking delicious. I was determined to bring this home and recreate it for Meatless Mondays! This is a pic of my dish, half eaten, from the Devil’s Advocate.
This is really such a simple dish. It doesn’t call for any seasonings but salt, fresh sage, and fresh thyme. But wow are there so many flavors going on. The savoriness of the mushrooms and spinach pairs so well with the sweetness of the figs.
We have made grits/polenta many times before, but I wanted this to look classier than just dumping polenta on a plate! Freezing the polenta in a pan for 30 to 45 minutes allowed me to cut it into squares and fry up the pieces nice and golden!
This really is a very classy looking dish! And if you can’t find fresh figs, this will still be delicious with dried figs!
This is probably one of the best Meatless Monday dinners you can make!
Enjoy!
Meatless Monday Polenta Squares with Irish Cheese, Figs, Mushrooms, & Spinach
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes + 30 minutes to chill
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Vegetarian
- Cuisine: Dinner
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
Polenta
6 TB butter, divided
2⅓ cups vegetable broth
1 cup instant polenta
1 cup Gruyere, shredded
2 TB sour cream
1 TB Dijon mustard
2 TB sage, chopped
1 TB thyme, chopped
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Toppings
1 lb figs, halved (or 9 oz dried figs)
½ cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped
7 oz. Irish white cheddar (I prefer Kerrygold reserve cheddar), sliced about ¼” thick
3 pints brown button mushrooms, quartered (or choose any combination of mushrooms you want!)
5.5 oz bag of spinach
salt
Instructions
Make the polenta. In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the sage, thyme, and nutmeg. Cook until fragrant, stirring often, about 1 minute.
Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Slowly add in the polenta, whisking constantly. Add the sour cream and mustard. Continue to whisk until the polenta starts to pull away from the pot, about 2 to 5 minutes. Add the Gruyere and continue to whisk and stir until thoroughly melted and the polenta is thick. Remove from heat.
Line an 8” to 9” square baking dish with parchment paper. Pour the polenta into the dish and using a spatula or the back of a spoon, smooth the top. Put in the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes, or until cool and set.
When ready, remove from the freezer. Pull the parchment paper out of the dish and gently flip upside down on a cutting board. Remove the parchment paper and discard. Cut the polenta evenly into four large squares.
In a cast iron pan, melt 2 TB of butter over medium heat. Cook the polenta about 4 to 5 minutes per side. After the second side is browned, lower the heat to medium-low, flip the polenta over and add the cheese slices. Cover and let melt, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate; cover with tin foil.
Melt the remaining 2 TB of butter over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms and lightly salt. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until just start to turn golden brown. Add half of the spinach and raise the heat to medium. Stirring frequently, cook the spinach until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the remaining spinach and cook until wilted, stirring frequently.
Add the figs and cook until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Plate the polenta. Spoon the mushrooms, spinach and figs over the polenta. There may be liquid in the pan from the mushrooms and spinach cooking. Use a slotted spoon to drain the liquid before spooning over the polenta.
Sprinkle hazelnuts over the top.
Eat!
Keywords: Meatless Mondays, Vegetarian, Polenta Squares, Figs
