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Rustic Winter Stew Over Polenta

December 10, 2010 81 Comments

Serves 8

Active time: 25 minutes || Total time: About 1 hour

I love that the addition of one word can turn a sloppy one-pot meal into something refined. The word, of course, being “rustic.” This is a hit-the-spot stew for wintertime, and the addition of a soft, simple and creamy polenta make it pure comfort. Even though there are lentils, I wouldn’t call it a “lentil stew.” The lentils are there to add extra body and some meatiness. Chopped plum tomatoes ensure a fresh tomato taste, as opposed to a heavy handed tomato-from-a-can flavor.

Go for yukon gold potatoes that are about the size of a misshapen golf ball, that way you only need to slice them in half to prep. Baby carrots are especially helpful, too., if you’re feeling too lazy to slice carrots.

Of course if you don’t want to use polenta you can use mashed potatoes, rice or any manner or yummy starches.

For the stew:

Olive oil (from 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons, depending how much you feel like using)

1 small onion, diced medium

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Several dashes fresh black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup green lentils

1 1/2 cups baby carrots

2 lbs plum tomatoes, chopped

4 cups vegetable broth

1 lb small yukon gold potatoes, sliced in half (if using large ones, cut into about 1 inch pieces)

2 bay leaves

3 leeks, white & light green parts only, in 1 inch chunks (and washed well)

Fresh rosemary or thyme, to serve (realistically, only if you’re taking food photos)

For the polenta:

4 cups vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup dry polenta

To make the stew:

Preheat a 4 quart pot over medium heat. Saute the onion in olive oil, along with a dash of salt, for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, celery seed, pepper and salt and saute a minute more.

Add the lentils, baby carrots, tomatoes and vegetable broth. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally for about 20 minutes, until lentils are slightly softened (now is a good time to start the polenta.)

Add potatoes and leeks. Lower heat to simmer. Cover and cook for about 20 to 30 more minutes, until potatoes are fork tender and lentils are soft. Let sit for 10 minutes or so to allow the flavors to meld. Serve over polenta, garnished with fresh herbs, if you like.

To make the polenta:

Bring vegetable broth and salt to a boil in a 2 quart pot. Add oil. Lower heat to simmer. Add the polenta in a slow steady stream, stirring constantly with a whisk. Whisk for about 5 minutes, until polenta is thickened. Keeping heat low, cover and let cook for 20 more minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Filed Under: Entrees, Gluten Free, Recipe, Stew Tagged With: lentils, potatoes, tomatoes

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Comments

  1. LAS

    April 20, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    Wow! So good. After this meal, I decided I need to put together a binder with “All time favorite recipes”. This will be the first recipe I add to my binder.

    Reply
  2. River (Wing It Vegan)

    October 1, 2012 at 10:36 pm

    Made it, loved it, blogged it! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  3. AshYTim

    October 19, 2012 at 1:13 am

    Mmmm…. SO GOOD! Just ate a huge bowl and I think I gotta go back for seconds. :]

    Reply
  4. Jodi

    November 18, 2012 at 11:39 pm

    I just made this but forgot tomatoes, didnt have any canned, so i skipped altogether, and added celery and a dash of vegan Worcestershire sauce. Also only had the polenta tube so decided to pan fry slices in a little olive oil. I loved this meal. So did my husband. Will be making again soon!

    Reply
  5. Veganator

    December 16, 2012 at 1:44 am

    Really good, but the polenta would be better cooked with water, and not vegetable broth. it turned the polenta into a brown color – not like the picture. Minor change for next time.

    Reply
  6. Rachel

    January 6, 2013 at 6:09 pm

    So, so good! Warm and rich and tasty. It will be my lunchtime stress relief for the work week! Thank you!

    Reply
  7. Annalise

    January 16, 2013 at 6:35 pm

    Made this for dinner two nights ago. Am heating up left overs and making a fresh batch of polenta to share with my hubby for lunch. This recipe was amazing. It even passed the kid test. Wouldn’t change a thing, although I did use different tomatoes. Thanks so much for an amazing recipe.

    Reply
  8. Leah

    January 30, 2013 at 12:59 am

    Oh man! I was reading the directions while cooking and realized that it doesn’t say when to put in the bay leaves in the directions and I didn’t realize it until it probably doesn’t matter anymore. Should still be good tho.

    Reply
  9. Leah

    January 30, 2013 at 3:55 am

    Follow up: I added the bay leaves in the last 15 mins of simmering and the flavor was still delish!
    Also, my potato’s were looking pretty sad, so I replace with a sweet potato and added a parsnip.
    All in all, this will be my go to ‘rustic’ stew recipe for sure!
    Thank you again, Isa!

    Reply
  10. Laurie

    February 2, 2013 at 1:16 am

    I’m new to veganism and this was the first real recipe that I’ve tried. Wow. Wowowow. Even my 5 year old son liked it, and that is a freaking MIRACLE. I am still basking in the food afterglow…

    Reply
  11. Alissa

    February 2, 2013 at 11:23 pm

    Didn’t have Thyme so I used Tarragon instead, and it was fantastic in it!! Also added diced kohlrabi in with the carrots, and made the polenta with garlic similar to the blackened scrambled tofu recipe. I’ll be making this now in place of my usual vegetable stew! Delicious!

    Reply
  12. Misha

    June 2, 2013 at 6:49 am

    This was one of the most delicious meals I have ever made. My boyfriend and I went nuts for it! Just incredibly tasty, nutritious, and satisfying. My type of comfort food. This is the dish that finally won my boyfriend over on leek and it will no doubt be made again and again in this household. Winner winner vegan dinner!

    Reply
  13. A

    October 21, 2013 at 4:08 am

    LOVE. I made this and had some instant polenta, which I messed up and it was yucky so didn’t add it to the soup. The soup was still ah-mazing,

    Reply
  14. April

    December 9, 2013 at 1:15 am

    I made this but added turnips, rutabeggas, and parsnips…then sauteed mushrooms. in butter with shallots and garlic…then, served over polenta….it was so yummy!

    Reply
  15. ang

    December 17, 2013 at 2:37 am

    could you freeze this?!

    Reply
  16. Cat

    May 5, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    Just made this and it worked out beautifully. Both me and my partner loved it and couldn’t resist large second helpings. Isa you rock – as always 🙂

    Reply
  17. Joanna

    February 27, 2015 at 3:08 am

    Mmmmmmmmm. Delish. Thank you isa for always feeding me. Someone literally told me today that I’m not a pale sickly vegan haha. My stupid grocery store didn’t have dry polenta so I used prepared (tube=weird) but mashed it w almond milk on the stove and came out not weird but yum. Savory delicious meal.

    Reply
  18. Kyle

    August 9, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    Don’t mean to be nitpicky, but it doesn’t say here when to add the Bay Leaf..

    Reply
  19. Hope

    December 21, 2016 at 5:38 pm

    I made this last night – LOVED the polenta!!! 🙂

    Reply
  20. C

    October 14, 2021 at 3:44 am

    I make this stew every fall when leeks show up in my CSA, and I always look forward to it.

    Reply
« Older Comments

Trackbacks

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    April 26, 2012 at 7:01 pm

    […] its pretty easy Lotus Answered:http://www.theppk.com/2010/12/rustic-winThis is a easy in a hurry […]

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  2. Planning for better eating « Barely Skating By says:
    January 11, 2013 at 5:13 am

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  3. Playing Ketchup. | greetingsfromthefruitcellar says:
    March 8, 2013 at 5:00 am

    […] camera. I combined two PPK recipes: Smoky Tomato Soup with Lentils and Olives dished over the Polenta from the Rustic Winter Stew. Both recipes are fantastic and easy. I’ve tried making polenta […]

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    February 18, 2014 at 10:56 am

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  7. Rustic Winter Stew Over Polenta, and Meet Curly the Pekin Duck! | Wing It Vegan says:
    March 8, 2015 at 12:57 pm

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  8. Rustic Winter Stew Over Polenta, and Meet Curly the Pekin Duck! says:
    March 8, 2015 at 7:16 pm

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  9. Pumpkin Polenta, Good Anytime of the Year | Blissful and Fit says:
    May 27, 2016 at 8:27 pm

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