Recipe for veal cheeks in sauce with creamy polenta

The veal It is highly prized and versatile since many and diverse meat cuts that even change according to the regions. In addition, it also offers pieces of offal Although not everyone likes them, they are highly valued and without a doubt one of the most consumed are cheeks.

Is recipe for veal cheeks in sauce with creamy polenta it is a plate delicious with a sauce of powerful flavor and a delight in terms of textures since the cheeks are very tendermelt in the mouth, and the creamy polenta, as its name suggests, is as smooth as a puree.

to give you a crisp and fresh touch I have chosen to include a little finely chopped red cabbage with pink pepper, which is practically not spicy and you can eat the whole grains. In the recipe you will see how to cook meat both in a traditional pot and in a pressure cookerobtaining a fantastic result in both.

If you liked this recipe, you will surely love our recipes with pork cheeks like these cheeks or pork cheeks in red wine waves pork cheeks in sauce with creamy mashed potatoes and all of them can be used in this recipe homemade fresh pasta tortellini stuffed with pork cheeks in sauceexquisite!

And if your thing is stewed beef, enjoy preparing this round of veal in port saucethe beef stew with potatoes and vegetables wave stewed meat in sauce with potatoes and vegetables. It is also exquisite veal ragout or ragout in red wine with vegetablesthe Catalan veal and mushroom fricassee or the Milanese veal ossobuco with gremolata and yellow Milanese risotto.

Ingredients to prepare veal cheeks in sauce with creamy polenta (4 people):

• 4 veal cheeks.
• Wheat flour to lightly flour the cheeks.
• 2 cloves of garlic.
• 2 sticks of celery.
• 2 spring onions or a leek.
• 2 carrots.
• 200 ml of red wine.
• 1 liter of meat broth or, if you don’t have it, water. Really quantity is to cover the cheeks.
• A sprig of thyme and another of fresh rosemary. If you don’t have fresh, you can add dry.
• 1 dessert spoon of fine corn flour or cornstarch.
• A few tablespoons of soy sauce instead of salt (optional).
• Olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• For the creamy polenta:
  • 120 gr of corn semolina or instant polenta. Sometimes when buying it on the package itself it indicates that it is polenta or express polenta.
  • 400 ml of water.
  • 400 ml of milk.
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• To decorate I have used a little red cabbage with oil and pink pepper.

Preparation, how to make the recipe for veal cheeks in sauce with creamy polenta:

1. Peel the carrotscut them in half and then into slices.
2. wash the branches of celeryremove the ends and leaves and cut into slices.
3. Peel the spring onionsremove the roots and the end of the driest green part and cut them into small pieces.
4. peel the teeth of Garlic and chop them very fine.
5. Salpimenta the cheek pieces all over both sides, pressing them a little so that the Salt and the Pepper they stay fixed. Put some on a plate flour and lightly flour them.
6. We start to cook so put a pot over medium heat with a splash of oil. Below you will see the instructions for cooking the cheeks both in a traditional pot and in a pressure cooker, so use the one you prefer.
7. When the oil is hot enter the cheek pieces and wait for them to brown on one side to turn them over. Take them out of the pot when they are ready and reserve them on a separate plate.
8. Put the vegetables in the pot: the celerythe spring onionsthe teeth of Garlic and the carrots along with a bit of Salt Y black pepper freshly ground Cook them over low heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and barely browned, usually about 10 minutes.
9. Increase the heat to high temperature and add the Red wine along with the twigs thyme Y rosemary.
10. Wait 2 or 3 minutes until the alcohol evaporates and at that moment incorporates the veal cheeks to the pot
11. To cook them you have two options depending on whether you use a traditional pot or a quick pot (and for the record that both are equally delicious, there is no difference in terms of flavor and final result):
    1. In traditional pot: kick them out meat broth either Water until they are covered, raise the heat and when the liquid begins to boil, reduce the temperature to a medium-low point so that they cook over a low heat for about 2 hours, until the cheeks are perfectly cooked and you check that they are very tender.
    2. In pressure cooker: pour them beef broth either Water until they are almost covered, protruding a little. Once closed and with the valve raised or indicating the two pressure rings, reduce the temperature of the fire to the minimum that allows the pressure to be maintained and therefore the two red rings are visible all the time and cook for about 20 minutes (it will depend on the brand and type of the pot but if it is not one of the old ones and has the two signs, it will be this time). When the time has elapsedTake the pot off the heat and let the pressure release itself a little at a time.
12. When the cheek pieces are ready, remove them from the pot and strain the broth. Sometimes I blend the vegetables with the liquid (removing the sprigs of thyme and rosemary) leaving a thick sauce with a less dark color, but lately what I do is strain the broth and discard the vegetables since they have already provided all their flavor.
13. pour the broth in the pot and put the fire to the maximum so that the sauce is reduced and concentrated, for about 10 minutes or until you see that its quantity has been reduced by half.
14. You can serve the sauce as is with a rather liquid texture or thicken it. If you want to thicken it, dissolve a dessert spoon of fine corn flour in a bit of Water and pour it into the pot. The sauce should be boiling but not bubbling excessively.
15. Stir a little so that it mixes well and wait a couple of minutes. If you see that it is already the right thickness (when it is removed from the heat it still thickens a little more) you already have it ready but if not, you can add a little more fine corn flour dissolved in Water. Remember that whenever you are going to thicken like this, the liquid on which you pour the dissolved flour must be boiling.
16. Now try it in case you have to rectify it Salt. Personally, sometimes instead of salt I add a splash of soy sauce to give it that salty touch as well as the flavor of this sauce that I love.
17. Put the cheek pieces on the sauce and leave them there until serving time.
18. When you have ready cheek pieces and the sauce it’s time to prepare the polenta since it is made in a moment and freshly made it is very good and with the right texture.
19. In a pot pour the Water and the milk and turn the heat to high.
20. When it boils, lower the heat so that it is soft, add the corn flour and mix well with a spoon or kitchen tongue.
21. Cook it for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring from time to time and crushing any possible lumps that you find, until it thickens and the texture is to your liking. Remember to remove it when it almost has the consistency you are looking for because when it cools it becomes more compact. If you use corn grits that is not instant or express, the cooking time will be between 10 and 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.
22. Add Salt Y black pepper freshly ground to taste.
23. When you have ready polenta try it in case you need to rectify it Salt either black pepper. If it has thickened too much you can add a little more Water either milk until you get the texture you are looking for. To do this, keep the pot over low heat, add the liquid and stir for a minute to mix well.
24. Heat the pot again with the cheek pieces and the sauce for a few minutes and spread them out on plates together with the creamy polenta.
25. To decorate the plate you can cut red cabbage very finely with a mandolin or a knife and mix it with a little olive oil Y pink pepper.

Time: 40 minutes of preparation + 2 hours of cooking with a normal pot or only 20 with a pressure cooker

Difficulty: easy

Serve and taste:

The cheeks must go to the table well hot so follow the advice in the recipe to reheat both the meat and the polenta at the last minute. The cheeks you can keep them up to 3 days in the fridge in a closed container with its sauce and even freeze them and the polenta can be in the fridge for 2 days.

Serve the cheeks with plenty of sauce and accompanied by the delicious creamy polenta with its characteristic corn flavor and the fresh touch of the red cabbage to which the pink pepper feels phenomenal. The cheeks remain tender and very tastyenjoy a bite authentic… scandal!

Variants of the recipe for veal cheeks in sauce with creamy polenta garnish:

As I mentioned in the recipe sometimes I strain the vegetables (really when you strain them they come to nothing and it is not worth throwing them away) and other times I crush them to go in the sauce. When straining them, the sauce is very fine and brighter and when crushed with the vegetables it has a more consistent texture but also very rich.

For him sofrito you can include other vegetables As the Red pepper or the tomatoes and it will look great on you too. You can also use other spices or herbsadapting the final flavor to your liking.

Tips:

Brown the cheeks well on all sides, that will greatly enhance the final flavor of both the cheek and the sauce.

it’s a recipe perfect to leave it made in advance since once the sauce is made you can put the pork cheeks back into it and simply heat the pot again for about 5 minutes just before serving them. However, polenta is so simple and quick to cook that my recommendation is that you make it right away.