Ingredients
POLENTA
425 g quick cooking Italian polenta
1.5 L water
2.5 – 5 mL salt
60 g butter or 60 mL olive oil, optional
120 mL Fontina cheese, optional

MUSHROOM TOPPING
700 mL Porcini mushrooms (dried & reconstituted, see below)
700 mL mixed fresh mushrooms such as button, shitake, or crimini
30 mL olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large onion, sliced thinly
160 g chopped plum tomatoes, skinned
60 mL dry white wine, optional
120 mL chopped mixed fresh herbs — parsley, basil, thyme, & tarragon
Salt and pepper to taste

To prepare Polenta:
Bring salted water to a rolling boil in a heavy saucepan. Slowly sprinkle polenta meal into water, stirring constantly. Lower heat, then continue to stir and cook until polenta thickens and pulls away from sides of pan, about 4-5 minutes. Now add butter or olive oil and cheese if you want.

Spray a 25 X 35 cm cake pan with water, then pour polenta into pan and spread to corners with the back of a wooden spoon. If mixture sticks to spoon, simply spritz polenta with a little water.

Allow polenta to set up — 45-60 minutes — before cutting and using. You can also wrap with plastic tightly and refrigerate until ready to use. Polenta will keep in the fridge for about a week and can be used for our fabulous fried polenta appetizer.

To prepare Mushroom Topping:
Rinse dried mushrooms under running water to clean, then soak in warm water to cover about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile clean and slice fresh mushrooms and set aside. In a small saucepan, boil water. Drop tomatoes into boiling water one by one. After a few seconds skins will pucker and begin to loosen. Remove immediately from water and slide skins off. Chop peeled tomatoes roughly and set aside.

Heat oil in a wide saute pan and add garlic and onions. Saute until just beginning to soften, then add fresh mushroom and continue to saute.

With your hands, squeeze broth from reconstituted dried mushrooms and add them to saute pan. Stir, then add 240 mL of reserved broth, and simmer. Any leftover broth can be saved for stock.

When sauce thickens, add tomatoes and half the herbs. Simmer another 10-15 minutes. Sauce should be thick and rich. Add some of the reserved mushroom broth if mixture seems too dry. If desired, now add wine. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, then remaining herbs.

To assemble:
Slice polenta into 1.25 cm wide slices and place in individual portions on a baking sheet greased with olive oil.

If desired, then drizzle with additional olive oil.

Bake at 250°C for about 10 minutes, until brown and bubbly.