The Secret Making Polenta Dumplings

This simple Italian Bean Stew with Polenta Dumplings recipe was inspired by a local supermarket free magazine. It’s easy and economical to make. We love the versatility!
It’s winter here in Australia. Frank & I thought this was a perfect Italian bean stew for a cold and wintry day.

It’s a fun dish to make and would be great for entertaining. We loved the taste and the Polenta Dumplings presentation appeals to “children of all ages.”

The recipe takes about a half hour to prep and cooking time, depending on your oven, may be about an hour.

For the prep, you will need

2 peeled, finely chopped carrots,

2 peeled finely chopped celery stalks,

4 garlic cloves minced

red onion finely minced.

In a fry pan, heat about a half a cup of oil over medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add about 14 ounces (400 grams) of passata,

14 ounces (400 grams) of canned chopped diced tomatoes

28 ounces (800 grams) of cannellini beans.

Here’s our first hint and tip. Season, season, season! We added oregano, thyme, rosemary, garlic salt, onion salt, basil, marjoram and we love lots of black pepper. Just use what you have on hand and go with your cooking instinct. That’s what we love about this recipe.

Cook 30 minutes or until liquid slightly reduces.

Pre-heat the oven to 350F/180C.

Okay, it’s Polenta Dumpling making time!  You will need

2 and 2/3 cups of self-raising flour. If you do not have self-raising flour, you can use all purpose and add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of flour.

In a large bowl, sift the flour.

Add 1 cup (170 grams) of yellow polenta.

Would this work with white polenta? Sure.

Add 1 cup finely grated cheese. We used what we had in the refridgerator – parmesan reggiano.

You will need to melt about 4 ounces (120 grams) of butter. You can do this in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave.

Add 1 1/4 cups of milk. We used a Danish Dough Whisk a good friend of ours gave us as a present. We highly recommend the whisk as they really does work and makes mixing bread dough, cookie dough, ciabata and Polenta Dumplings alot easier.

Place the dough on a generously floured surface. If necessary, use your floured hands to form a ball and cut the dough into 12 equal portions. Frank and I weighed each ball on a digital scale, similar to this one. The Polenta Dumplings police are not going to fine you if the balls are not exactly the same size!

Roll the balls and arrange around the stew, leaving room around the edges for the balls to expand. It will not make a difference if the balls are touching each other.

Our hint and tip? We used extra melted butter and with a pastry brush, brushed the entire surface of the Polenta Dumplings. Place them around the pan. Top all over with extra finely greated cheese .

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!