Name: Creamy Polenta with Sausage Ragù
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Argentine
Ingredients: 1 kg coarse grilling sausage, cut into rounds of about 3 cm; Sunflower oil, as needed; 2 small carrots, in 2 cm rounds; 2 onions, in rounds; 1/2 green pepper, in small pieces; 1 celery stick, in pieces; 3 garlic cloves, chopped; 1 glass of white wine; 2 tins of crushed tomatoes; Salt, freshly ground black pepper, chilli flakes and paprika, to taste; 850-1 l whole milk (3 1/2 to 4 cups); 200 g instant polenta (1 cup); 200 g cream cheese, as firm as possible; Grated Parmesan, as needed; Fresh parsley, chopped, as needed

Creamy Polenta with Sausage Ragù

⏱ 60 min in total🔪 15 min prep🍳 45 min cooking🍽 6 portiesEasy

The winter dish above all others: very creamy polenta under a ragù of grilling sausage that stews for 40 minutes in tomato. A classic of Argentine home cooking that comforts the whole family.

Two decisions make the difference. The polenta is cooked in milk instead of water — that is where the creaminess and the full flavour come from. And at the end cream cheese and Parmesan go in, which is the Italian mantecatura: fat and cheese, stirred in off the heat, turn a porridge into a cream.

One step comes right at the start and is easy to overlook: after browning the sausage, the rendered fat is poured off. Otherwise the whole ragù swims in it.

Ingredients

Measurements

🍽 6 servings

1 kg coarse grilling sausage, cut into rounds of about 3 cm
Sunflower oil, as needed
2 small carrots, in 2 cm rounds
2 onions, in rounds
1/2 green pepper, in small pieces
1 celery stick, in pieces
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 glass of white wine
2 tins of crushed tomatoes
Salt, freshly ground black pepper, chilli flakes and paprika, to taste
850-1 l whole milk (3 1/2 to 4 cups)
200 g instant polenta (1 cup)
200 g cream cheese, as firm as possible
Grated Parmesan, as needed
Fresh parsley, chopped, as needed

Method

Browning and degreasing the sausage: in a large pot with a splash of sunflower oil, brown the rounds of sausage. Take them out of the pot and drain off or remove the excess fat left in the bottom.

The ragù sofrito: in that same pot, fry the carrots, the onions, the pepper, the celery and the chopped garlic for a few minutes until the vegetables just start to colour.

Deglazing with wine: return the browned sausage rounds to the pot and pour in the glass of white wine. Cook for a couple of minutes over medium heat so the alcohol evaporates.

Slow cooking the ragù: add the seasonings (salt, pepper, chilli flakes and paprika) and the crushed tomatoes. Half cover and cook over low heat for 40 minutes so the flavours concentrate.

Making the polenta: in another pot, heat the milk seasoned with salt and pepper. Just before it comes to the boil, rain in the instant polenta while stirring constantly with a balloon whisk to avoid lumps. When the mixture is firm and drier, it is ready.

Mantecatura and creaminess: once the polenta is cooked, lower the heat, carry on stirring and add the cream cheese along with the grated Parmesan to reach the creaminess you want.

Serving: pour the hot creamy polenta into a dish or deep plates, put the sausage ragù in the centre and serve scattered with plenty of chopped fresh parsley.