Polenta with Garlicky Goodness (what else!)

So the hubby and I had a yen for this and it was delicious. Very filling and easy to make albeit a little time consuming. This can easily be made vegan or add some bacon for all you raging carnivores out there.

In a large pot you will need to put:
8 cups of water
At least 1 tsp salt (I just generously salt the water like I'm making pasta)

Bring the water to a rapid boil then add
2 cups medium or coarse ground corn meal for making Polenta.

Now, I've seen two different methods for this. One is to slowly add the meal to the water in a slow stream while stirring over the course of a minute or so. The other method is to just dump it in and still stir until there are no clumps. I've done both and haven't had an issue with clumps. The key is to really keep stirring this for a couple minutes while the water is still boiling. Once it's fully mixed after a couple minutes you'll see the texture start to change a bit. Turn down the pot to very low/low and put a lid on it. Stir it every so often (every ten minutes or so) for the next 45 minutes. Longer is fine too.

Now, the next part.....
In a large sautee pan put a generous amount of Olive Oil (4-5 TBSP roughly)
Add in:
3 medium onions sliced thin and start carmelizing them
2 small heads of garlic separated, peeled and sliced (the ones we used were barely larger than a US half dollar in diameter) also for carmelizing
10 oz sliced mushrooms to sautee and start reducing.
Add salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste.

{For the carnivores....This would also be the time to fry up some bacon and tear it into pieces like large bacon bits. Once cooked set to the side.}

Then once the polenta is near cooked add to the sautee pan 20 0z washed, patted dry spinach and let it wilt. Add more salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste.

Add 2 TBSP butter to the polenta pot or vegan alternative (is that margarine? I apologize that I don't know) and mix in thoroughly.

To serve:
Spoon polenta into a bowl and top with the mixture from the sautee pan {Add bacon bits here as well if you're using them}. We added some of the juice from the pan and was full of garlic and onion flavor which was wonderful. Enjoy! Serves 4 roughly.

If you have leftover polenta but nothing else fry up the polenta in wedges and serve with some herbed butter and parmesan cheese.