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Polenta Al Tagliere
For this satisfying winter dish, hot polenta is piled onto a tagliere or wooden chopping board and used as a ‘dish’ to hold a warming ragu of spicy pork cooked in white wine. Everyone then helps themselves, making this a great meal to share with friends on a cold day.
The Method
To prepare the ragu: Heat 5 tbsp of the olive oil in a pan and fry the pork until browned on all sides. Add the garlic and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt to taste. Mix the wine with the tomato puree, add to the pan and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Cut the peppers into strips. Heat the remaining 5 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and fry the pepper strips over quite a high heat until they are soft and the edges start to brown. Add chopped chilli to taste, a little salt and the wine vinegar and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the peppers and chilli to the meat and check the seasoning, cook until the meat is tender.
In the meantime, make the polenta. Put 3.5 litres of water in a large pan, add the salt and bring to the boil. Add the polenta and cook, stirring, until thickened and smooth - about 20 minutes (or 5 - 6 minutes if using instant polenta).
Once cooked, pour the polenta onto the tagliere leaving a space in the middle to be filled by the ragu and grate the Parmesan or Pecorino over the top – invite your friends and dig in!
Vital Statistics
| Prep time | 20 |
| Cook time | 40 |
| Serves | 6 |
The Ingredients
| 600g Polenta Flour or instant polenta |
| 20g Salt |
| 1.2 kg Pork cut into bite-sized chunks |
| 10 tbsp Olive oil |
| 4 Garlic cloves |
| 100ml White wine |
| 2 tbsp Tomato Puree |
| 1 kg Red and yellow peppers, halved, cored and de-seeded |
| 2 Red chillies, cored, de-seeded and finely chopped |
| 6 tbsp White wine vinegar |
| To serve - freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese |