Mushroom Gorgonzola Polenta
Instant polenta thickened with dry cheese powder and rehydrated mushrooms. One pot, no oven.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 21 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Instant polenta | 1/2 cup | the quick kind, not coarse stone-ground |
|---|---|---|
| Dried sliced mushrooms | 1/2 oz | shiitake or a wild blend |
| Dried shallot or onion flakes | 1 tbsp | |
| Blue cheese powder | 2 tbsp | sold for wings and dressings; stands in for gorgonzola |
| Powdered whole milk | 2 tbsp | replaces the cream cheese |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Dried thyme | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | 1/2 tsp salt, several grinds pepper |
Method
- Drop the mushrooms and shallot flakes into 600 ml of water and bring it to a boil. Let them ride five minutes so the mushrooms soften and the water turns into stock.
- Turn the heat to its lowest setting. Pour the polenta in slowly with one hand and stir with the other. Dumping it all at once makes lumps you will not stir out.
- Stir for eight to ten minutes. It will thicken and start pulling away from the pot wall.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the milk powder, blue cheese powder, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Pour the oil over the top and stir once. Eat within a few minutes.
The original bakes this. On trail there is no oven, so the polenta does all the work in the pot and the cheese goes in off the heat. Instant polenta thickens in ten minutes on a low flame, which is about the limit of what a canister will happily hold at simmer.
The two dairy swaps matter. Cream cheese becomes milk powder, which carries the fat without a cooler, and crumbled gorgonzola becomes blue cheese powder, which dissolves instead of sitting in cold lumps. Dried mushrooms are the other half of the trade: their soaking water is the cooking liquid, so the mushroom flavor ends up in the grain rather than down the drain.
Packing
Polenta, milk powder, cheese powder, thyme, salt, and pepper premix into one bag. Mushrooms and shallot flakes go in a second bag since they enter the pot first. Oil rides in a bottle.
Variations
- A foil packet of chicken stirred in at the end adds about 20 g of protein.
- Parmesan powder in place of the blue cheese if the gorgonzola note is too much.
- Leftovers set firm overnight. Slice the block and fry it in oil for breakfast.
https://domesticsuperhero.com/mushroom-and-gorgonzola-baked-polenta