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Polenta Soup with Kale and Parmesan
Polentina alla toscana, a rustic Italian soup, is a brothy version of soft polenta with a few added ingredients. For our take, we use water as the liquid, not chicken or vegetable stock, so the corn flavor is more pronounced. It’s important, however, to use coarse stoneground cornmeal to obtain the correct texture and taste. Lacinato kale, the type called for here, is sometimes referred to as Tuscan or dinosaur kale; the dark-green leaves become tender after only a few minutes of cooking. If you would like to make the soup heartier, add a can of cannellini beans (rinsed and drained) along with the kale.
4-6
Servings
30 minutes
Ingredients
-
3
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
-
1
large yellow onion, chopped
Pardon the interruption
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GET DIGITAL & PRINTI made this as written first, and it was wonderful, the leeks give it a special something. I wanted to make it again, but had some cooked polenta I was going to fry, but didn't feel like it. So I added the cooked block of polenta instead, and used a potato masher. It wasn't smooth like the original, but it had a more 'rustic' feel that was still soft and delicious. Thank you Milk Street!
I found this a little bland as written, so I "souped" (lol) it up with the following:
2 boullion cubes
xtra parm (kept adding until I got a strong flavor)
then it was awesome!
Added some white beans too. We're loving it for lunches this week.
I wonder if my result could be because I was using a lower quality domestic parm versus true parmiagiano reggiano? I would guess a stronger imported parm wouldn't need as much flavor help. Your mileage may vary!