I found this on Laura’s Best Recipes and since I love both butternut squash AND polenta, I decided to give it a try. Boy, she wasn’t kidding. It’s been a tradition on Thanksgiving ever since! Please note, I’ve used the image from her site because I don’t have a decent picture of this. That will be remedied this year.
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1-pound piece of butternut squash or sugar pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½-inch dice
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup polenta
- 1 ½ cups cold water
- 2 cups homemade or canned low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 12 fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 1/3 cup (1 ½ ounces) freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons of the oil and spread on the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Stir and turn the squash, and continue baking until tender when pierced with a knife, 15 to 20 minutes longer.
- In a medium bowl, soak the polenta in the cold water for 10 minutes. In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Stir in the polenta and any remaining water, the salt, pepper and remaining 1 tablespoon oil.
- Return to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir the squash into the polenta and cook until heated through. Spoon into a hot bowl for serving.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and cook until it sizzles and browns lightly, then add the sage and sauté until crisp. Scatter over the polenta. Sprinkle with the cheese and serve at once.