Vegan Baked Polenta Recipe with Tofu Ragout

With the cooler temperatures arriving and the rainy season approaching, we are always up for a good piece of Vegan Baked Polenta. And we like it stuffed with a rich and healthy layer of Vegan Bolognese (Tofu Ragout).

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During my meat-eating days back in Argentina, I learned how to make Polenta stuffed with Bolognese ragout, and I loved it. So, I decided to aim for something similar, to replicate the flavors and textures of a Bolognese Ragout.

We use this protein-packed filling with tomato sauce depending on what we will use it for—using more liquid for a pasta sauce (Vegan Bolognese Spaghetti, also in this site), or making it thicker for stuffings like the one using for this recipe.

What is polenta

Living in Northern Italy, we came to know that is actually a dish from this region. And yes, when you go to the supermarkets you can find it in all kinds of presentations.

Polenta is nothing more than a dish made with cornmeal, boiled cornmeal. You can serve it as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf. It can also be baked, fried, or grilled. So, it is a very versatile meal.

Polenta is usually made of yellow maize, but often other cereal mixtures are used. Nowadays, polenta has become a staple of Northern Italy, the Balkans, and Switzerland, but this is something relatively “new”. Let’s not forget that corn was brought to Europe from the Americas.

Cornmeal is commonly used in the US and Latin America, to make Cornbread, although the Italian way of making polenta is widely adopted in Argentina, as per the strong influence from the Italian diaspore immigration that took place at the beginning of the last century.

In this recipe, we will be briefly boiling the polenta and then we will bake it along with a delicious vegan tofu ragout.

You are about to read one of the best vegan polenta recipes out there! You won't regreat it!

Ingredients

• Instant Polenta
• Vegetable stock
• Vegan Ragout Filling (see below)

Additionally, we use these highly recommended optional ingredients

• Vegan mozzarella cheese
• Pitted Green olives

Filling (Vegetable Bolognese)

• Firm tofu
• Walnuts
• Tomato puree
• Garlic
• Celery
• Carrot
• Onion
• Basil

Optional: red wine.

See quantities and full instructions in the recipe card.

Instructions

These vegan baked polenta cakes are made with the Lasagna layering idea. You need to make your vegan ragout and the polenta, separately.

Then you assemble the layers in the pan: one layer polenta, one layer ragout, and finish with one layer of Polenta.

Make the filling

• Prepare the veggies. Chop the garlic, onion, and celery into medium to small dice. Also, shred the carrot.

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• Blend. Coarsely blend the walnuts on a food processor or immersion blender.
• Crumble the tofu with your hands.

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• Stir-fry. In a large saucepan on medium heat, add the oil, and after 15 seconds add the garlic and onion.
• Stir until golden. As soon as the onion is translucent, add the celery, followed by the walnuts and the tofu.
• Optionally add wine. If you are using red wine, add it now and stir. It will bring up all the flavors that may be sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
• Carrot and Basil. Add the shredded carrots and fresh basil.
• Stir in the tomato sauce. Set the heat to medium-low and stir every now and then. Let it cook for 30 minutes.
• Final seasoning. Salt and pepper to taste.

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Make the Polenta

• Dice the vegan mozzarella into medium to large pieces, as they will melt later, and we want to keep some noticeable pieces of cheese.

• Simmer. Set the vegetable stock to simmer and add a teaspoon of salt. If you made a fresh stock, strain before using it.
• Stir in. Start adding the polenta, little by a little while stirring. You should end with a thick, but still manageable paste.
• Add "cheese". Add the diced vegan mozzarella until it slightly melts and turn off the heat.

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Assemble

• Oil a pan. To facilitate the portioning, you can use a rectangle baking tray.
• Set the first polenta layer, about ½ inch thick (1.5 cm), spreading evenly with a spoon or spatula.

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• Add the vegan ragout as a second layer, followed by the optional pitted green olives.

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• Add the rest of the polenta as the third layer.
• Top with the remaining mozzarella dice and optionally add some vegan parmesan cheese before baking. It will create a nice golden crust on top.

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• Bake. Now we are ready to bake the polenta in a pre-heated oven for 15-25 minutes. Remember that all the components are already cooked, so we are only aiming to:
  • Melt the cheese
  • The mix to come together as a whole.
  • Achieve a golden top.

Top tip: although you can serve the polenta, as soon as you take it out of the oven, we like letting it cool down a bit. It will allow you to better cut and portion the squares. Of course, you can always just spoon it if you don't mind the looks!

Substitutions

This Vegan Baked Polenta can be adjusted easily to different food restrictions and choices.

Dairy – some people like using milk instead of vegetable stock, even adding butter while stirring the polenta. If you'd like to make a heavier and richer polenta, you can add vegan butter and unsweetened almond milk in replacement of half the vegetable stock.

Cheese – you can use any of your favorite vegan cheeses. We like using vegan parmesan and mozzarella to top the Polenta before baking it because it adds some delicious golden and melty spots.

Feel free to add some parmesan while stirring the Polenta with the vegetable stock, so it melts with the liquid. Heaven!

Vegetable stock – you can use any leftover or misfit veggies and boil for 20 minutes, to make natural veggie stock. Also, you can simply boil some onion or garlic powder with your favorite herbs. We want to infuse flavor in the Polenta as we add the liquid instead of adding water.

We like using the remainders of the ragout veggies to make the stock: carrot peelings, unused celery leaves, and some onion pieces.

Remember, you can always use a store-bought organic vegetable stock cube, and simply dilute it in boiling water for 2-3 minutes.

Ragout – if you want to make a tofu-less filling, you can simply add extra celery, onion, and carrots to the ragout and avoid the tofu.

Make sure to cut the veggies in medium-small sizes to contribute to the textures of the dish.

Tomato sauce – you can use fresh tomatoes, finely chopped or blended instead of the tomato puree. Just make sure to add a teaspoon of sugar and allow for extra 10 minutes of cooking. That way you ensure to balance tomatoes' natural acidity.

Basil – you can replace it with thyme or oregano, or the mix of the two. I often use different herbs to give the dish a slightly different flavor.

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Adjusting for food allergies

Nut allergy – double the amount of tofu in replacement of the nuts.

Gluten allergy – tofu is naturally gluten-free but it may become cross-contaminated during processing. If you have a gluten allergy, find tofu that is certified gluten-free without containing any glutenous ingredients.

If you like cornmeal, and gluten-free recipes, you will love our Vegan Buttermilk Gluten-Free Cornbread.

How to serve

Allow for the pan to cool down for 10-15 minutes before serving. This helps to consolidate the flavors and will make it easier to serve. The Polenta will stick together better instead of melting while plating.

Cut like serving a lasagna.

Add some extra vegan parmesan or olive oil on top.

Serve with a green salad with a 5-minutes homemade vinaigrette.

Variations

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You can skip the ragout altogether to make a slimmer and quicker version.

We love adding pitted green olives to the ragout.

Use our 5-minutes vegan parmesan, both while you stir the polenta and on top, before baking it.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!

Food safety

We sometimes take for granted that we have years (or decades) of cooking experience that the average visitor may not. Add to, or remove from, the list below with health and safety tips.

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.