Polenta Cremosa com Ragu

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-liter pot for the ragu
• •Wide heavy 3-liter pot for the polenta
• •Balloon whisk
• •Wooden spoon
• •Ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the refogado

   Warm the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery if using, with a pinch of the salt. Cook until the onion goes soft and see-through and the carrot smells sweet, about 6 minutes. This is the base of the ragu, so let it murchar properly. Raw onion taste doesn't disappear by magic later.

   Celery is useful, not mandatory. A Tuesday can live without it. Onion and garlic are not negotiable here, because they are doing the real work.
2. 2

   Brown the meat

   Add the beef in loose pieces and spread it across the pot. Let it sit until the bottom browns, then break it up and stir. Keep cooking until the meat has lost its raw color and you see browned bits sticking to the pot, about 8 to 10 minutes. If the pot fills with liquid, keep cooking until that water evaporates. Wet meat steams grey; dry heat builds flavor.

3. 3

   Build the sauce

   Add the garlic and cook for one minute, just until you smell it. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until it darkens a little and clings to the meat, about 2 minutes. Pour in the wine or water and scrape the bottom of the pot. Those brown bits are flavor, not dirt. Add the crushed tomatoes, 1 cup water or stock, bay leaves, pepper, and the remaining salt.

4. 4

   Simmer the ragu

   Bring the sauce to a lively bubble, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, stirring now and then. It should thicken, turn brick-red, and leave a clear path when you drag the spoon across the bottom. If it dries before the meat softens, add water by the 1/4 cup. Ragu needs time so the tomato loses its sharp edge and the meat tastes like it belongs in the pot.

   The honest shortcut is using good canned crushed tomatoes. The cost is a little less sweetness than ripe seasonal tomato, but the sauce still works. The shortcut I won't hand you is powdered sauce mix. That's not help, that's imitation food.
5. 5

   Heat the liquid

   When the ragu is almost ready, bring 6 cups stock or water to a boil in a wide heavy pot. Taste it and salt it until it tastes pleasantly seasoned. Polenta drinks this liquid, so bland water makes bland polenta. Lower the heat to medium-low once it boils, because angry bubbling throws cornmeal around and nobody asked for kitchen confetti.

6. 6

   Whisk in cornmeal

   Hold the cornmeal in one hand and a whisk in the other. Sprinkle the cornmeal into the hot liquid in a slow rain while whisking constantly. Don't dump it. A pile of dry cornmeal hits hot liquid and makes lumps before you can blink. A slow rain lets each grain hydrate separately, which is how creamy begins.

7. 7

   Cook until creamy

   Switch to a wooden spoon and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring often and scraping the corners of the pot. The polenta is ready when it loses the raw corn smell, thickens, and falls from the spoon in soft waves instead of gritty clumps. If it gets too stiff before it tastes cooked, add hot water or stock 1/2 cup at a time. The corn decides when it's done, not your impatience.

8. 8

   Finish and serve

   Turn off the heat and stir the butter and cheese into the polenta until glossy. Taste and adjust the salt. Spoon the polenta into shallow bowls, ladle the ragu over the center, and finish with parsley. Serve with sautéed couve or a sharp green salad, because a full plate needs something green to cut through the richness.

Chef Tips

• •Use fine cornmeal, fubá mimoso, for the creamiest pot. Coarse cornmeal works, but it takes longer and stays more rustic in the mouth. That's not failure, it's a different texture.
• •If the polenta firms up, don't panic. Stir in hot water or stock a little at a time until it loosens. Cold polenta sets because corn starch firms as it cools. Science, not betrayal.
• •Make the full ragu even if you're feeding two. It keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Future you deserves a pot that already did the work.
• •For batch cooking, cool leftover polenta in an oiled dish. Tomorrow, slice it and brown it in a skillet. Different dinner, same work. That's how a house learns to feed itself.
• •Skip bouillon powders and packet seasonings. If you need speed, use canned tomatoes and ground beef. Saving time is fair. Replacing food with salt dust is where I get rude.

Advance Preparation

• •The ragu can be made up to 3 days ahead and reheated gently with a splash of water.
• •The ragu freezes for up to 3 months in 2-cup portions.
• •Chop the onion, carrot, garlic, and parsley up to 1 day ahead and keep them covered in the fridge.
• •Polenta is best right after cooking, but leftovers set firmly and can be sliced and pan-browned the next day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 520g)