Christmas Polenta Stars with mushroom mousse, simple and delicious, made with instant polenta, quick to make.

Ideal as an appetizer for the Christmas period, you can create the stars you prefer and garnish them with creamy cheese mousse and mushrooms cooked in a pan, or gratinate them in the oven simply by adding a teaspoon of grated cheese on top.

And you can recycle leftover polenta by baking it with tomato, mozzarella, and grated cheese, or, as I did, frying it in a pan with garlic and oil until a delicious crust forms.

In short, with this recipe, you can unleash your creativity, just use my basic idea, and it’s ready in no time, perfect to prepare in advance.

Below, I’ve left you some more delightful ideas to make as appetizers or holiday snacks.

Difficulty: Very Easy
Cost: Very Cheap
Rest time: 1 Hour
Preparation time: 15 Minutes
Portions: About 20 stars
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Christmas

Ingredients

9 oz instant polenta
1 tbsp coarse salt
6.5 cups water
7 oz cream cheese
7 oz mushrooms
2 tbsp butter
1 pinch fine salt
to taste walnut halves
to taste dried cranberries

Tools

1 Pot
1 Hand whisk
1 Cookie cutter
1 Pan
1 Knife
1 Cutting board
1 Spatula
Paper towel
1 Baking sheet
1 Parchment paper

Steps

To make the Christmas Polenta Stars, first prepare the polenta.
Follow the package instructions to cook it according to the proportions I’ve indicated.
For mine, it takes only 3 minutes from the first boil, but I always wait for the water to be well absorbed, so I always cook it for one more minute on low heat while stirring.
Boil the water, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle the flour in, stirring to prevent lumps.
You can use a hand whisk or a wooden or silicone spoon to stir.
At the first boil, cook the polenta, always stirring.
As soon as it is ready, spread it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Mine is a 14 x 11 inch pan. Based on the measurements of yours, you can adjust, the polenta base should be about 0.75 inches high.
Level it with a spatula or spoon and let it cool well.
Meanwhile, clean the mushrooms, removing the stem with the roots and cleaning them with a damp cloth.
Cut them into not too thin slices and cook them in a pan with slightly melted butter.
I personally didn’t add other aromas or spices or garlic for a milder taste, but you can do as you prefer.
Turn the mushrooms from time to time and, after 10 minutes, turn off the heat.
Add a pinch of salt, stir, and let them cool.
Put the mushrooms in the blender jug once cooled and add the cream cheese.
You can also add grated cheese if you prefer.
Blend everything until you get a creamy consistency.
Now cut out the stars from the cooled polenta using a small star-shaped cutter (but here too you can choose the shapes you prefer, as long as they don’t have too thin edges).
Remove any excess polenta and store it in a closed container in the refrigerator until you use it, following my tips at the beginning of the recipe.
Spread the mousse on the polenta stars, as desired, garnish with walnut halves and dried cranberries.
And here’s your festive appetizer ready.