Patatine al Formaggio Polenta con Bolognese

I like to play with my food. Tweaking recipes and ingredients, substituting spices and techniques to represent the same dish in different cultures. Lately I’ve been craving chili cheese fries. But not the type you get any local sports bar or greasy spoon, I want the kind you might find in a corner Trattoria in Italy. Cheesy Parmesan and rosemary polenta “fries” broiled or fried and served with a rich Bolognese sauce. And not just any Bolognese, the kind that takes hours on the stove made with boneless short rib. The kind that has a fresh home made tomato sauce base made with garlic, herbs, and wine, which stewed for hours also. This is a labor of love type of recipe. Three individual dishes that take a few hours each to finish. If you think of it as work you may never get to enjoy the end result. That’s why I “play” with my food.

Polenta Fries;

2 cups whole milk

1 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoons butter

1 5/8 cups medium fine ground dry polenta

3 ounces Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, combine milk, chicken stock, rosemary and butter; bring to rolling boil. Slowly whisk in polenta. Turn down heat to medium-low, and continue cooking and stirring until polenta pulls from edge of pan. Mix in cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread polenta evenly over a 6x 9 cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and set another 6×9 pan on top with a heavy can and refrigerate until cold. Cut into “fries”, place on a large cookie sheet, top with Parmesan cheese and broil for about 5 minutes until golden.

Tomato Sauce;

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 med yellow onion finely chopped

4 cups cored and chopped ripe tomatoes

1- 28oz can good quality whole tomatoes, crushed with juice

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried marjoram

salt and pepper to taste

Heat a heavy 4-6 quart sauce pan and add the oil onion and garlic. Saute until the onion is translucent and the add the remaining ingredients and simmer 3-4 hours uncovered stiring occasionally. Taste for seasoning. Cool and store in refrigerator.

Bolognese;

1 pound boneless beef chuck

salt and pepper

1 Tbls olive oil

1 cup red wine

1/4 cup water

4 cloves garlic, crushed

3 cups Tomato sauce (from above recipe)

1 cup chicken stock

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup cream

salt and pepper to taste

Season the meat with salt and pepper. Brown all sides in a heavy bottomed pan with the olive oil. Add the water, red wine, and garlic. bring to a boil then simmer gently, covered for 2 hours. Add water or wine if the pan begins to dry out. After 2 hours let cool and shred the meat into the pan. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer covered for 45 minutes, then add the cheese, cream and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes then serve.

Enjoy-RTK