Creamy Pumpkin Polenta with Goat Cheese and Spinach
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This comforting, creamy pumpkin polenta tastes like autumn has arrived. It’s soft, velvety, and melded together with the flavors of savory goat cheese, crunchy spinach, earthy sage, warm pumpkin, and roasted butternut squash. It’ll warm you to your core!
What is it about polenta that is so comforting? Its rustic origins as a peasant dish in Northern Italy evoke a certain nostalgia. It’s such a simple ingredient that takes on flavor beautifully, and its smooth texture makes it warm and filling. Add pumpkin to this, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a cozy fall dinner!
What is polenta?
Polenta, with its origins in Northern Italy, is made from coarsely ground yellow cornmeal. The dish is prepared by boiling the polenta until it becomes creamy. It can be enjoyed soft, as in this recipe, or cooled, then sliced and grilled, fried, or baked until firm. Polenta has a mildly sweet, earthy flavor, very subtly reminiscent of corn, but it absorbs the flavors of other ingredients it is cooked with.
Key ingredients needed
These ingredients fuse together to create a creamy pumpkin polenta:
- Butternut squash: Adds a sweet and nutty flavor. Reserve the seeds for roasting.
- Polenta: This recipe calls for polenta rather than cornmeal. They are almost the same product however the consistency of the grain varies.
- Whole milk: To make it extra creamy, use whipping cream in place of some of the milk.
- Goat cheese: Makes the meal extra creamy while adding a delicious tang.
- Spinach: Offers a fresh, leafy green.
- Canned pureed pumpkin: Melds with the polenta as the warm base to this dish. (Be careful not to buy pumpkin pie mix, which has spices and sugar added).
- Dried sage: Imparts an earthy, herbaceous taste.
What’s the secret to cooking perfect polenta?
- Flavor base – Cooking the onion in butter and oil creates a good base for our polenta, and don’t forget to add the salt.
- Stir it up – Stirring your creamy polenta while it cooks with a wooden spoon ensures even cooking and helps avoid lumps.
- Low and slow – Once it reaches boiling point, lower the heat to a gentle simmer. The longer it cooks, the creamier it becomes, so go low and slow!
- Off the heat – Polenta continues to thicken after you remove it from the heat, as it cools. Cooking until it reaches a mashed potato consistency then taking off the heat works great. Enjoy it immediately!
What to serve with pumpkin polenta
Try adding a side dish of sauteed green beans, roasted root vegetables, roasted broccoli and carrots, or grilled mushrooms to your table spread.
Serve it next to a protein, like these braised pork ribs, Italian braised chicken or bacon-wrapped pesto chicken as a complementary, creamy side.
Creamy Pumpkin Polenta with Goat Cheese and Spinach
Ingredients
- 1 small butternut squash (cut into cubes – roast the seeds, if you'd like)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil (divided)
- 1 teaspoon butter
- ½ medium yellow onion (finely minced)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 cup polenta
- 4 cups whole milk (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 4 tablespoons goat cheese
- 4 cups spinach
- 1 cup canned pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
Instructions
- Turn your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Put the butternut squash on the tray and toss it with 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Put the pan into the oven (you don't need to wait for it to finish preheating) and roast the squash for 25-30 minutes, or until it is tender.1 small butternut squash
- Add the remaining teaspoon of oil and the butter to a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is soft and brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.1 teaspoon butter, ½ medium yellow onion, 1 clove garlic
- Add the polenta, milk, and sea salt to the pot with the onions. Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook the polenta, stirring occasionally, until it resembles mashed potatoes, about 12-15 minutes.1 cup polenta, 4 cups whole milk
- Stir in the goat cheese, spinach, pumpkin, sage, and roasted butternut squash. Season to taste with sea salt.1 teaspoon sea salt, 4 tablespoons goat cheese, 4 cups spinach, 1 cup canned pureed pumpkin, 1 teaspoon dried sage
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
This was delicious! I tweaked it a little bit and made Benedict with the leftovers . TDF!’
Whoa … what a great idea for the leftovers!
It’s alway a trade-off, isn’t it? Fresh, ripe veggies or warm and delicious comfort food. Both are so good!
They’re two of my favourite things too!
I’m happy I could help erase the blues! It really is a sad day when the sweaters come out, isn’t it?
Perched on a rock soaking up the sun sounds like the perfect place to be! I’d be right there too. 🙂
Had the leftovers with eggs and toast for breakfast. Very fancy in the morning!
What a great way to use the leftovers. I’ll have to try that next time I make this. 🙂
Made this tonight and loved it. Goat cheese and pumpkin are one of my favorite flavor combinations and the textures of the squash, polenta and spinach really make this a hearty dish. Pin win for sure.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for the feedback!!
I’m a summer gal too! But I love the sound of pumpkin polenta. I don’t eat dairy, but I bet the pumpkin adds that creaminess I’m always craving.
You could definitely make this without the goat cheese. Most of the creaminess comes from the pumpkin so it would be just as good. 🙂
Summer is where it’s at, isn’t it?! Hope this helps make the transition to autumn a little less painful for you!
Thank you so much for the Pin and the Yum!! 🙂
I knew by Strength and Sunshine that you had to be a summer girl, too. It’s just so much better, isn’t it?
I love that you also tell people that the pretty leaves are dying. I almost deleted that part cause no one ever likes it when I say that either. 🙂
Ahhh! Three of my favorite things to eat already in the title. I love everything with pumpkin, I could eat polenta at least once a week and I am eating goat cheese almost every day. Pinned this and I will cook it for sure.
I can’t get enough goat cheese in my life either! Thank you for the pin!!
You had me at goat cheese. This looks delicious and perfect for our cooling weather.
Goat cheese is one of my favourites, too. Years ago I tried being vegan. It lasted all of about 2 weeks before I realized that there was no way I could live the rest of my life without cheese. Especially goat cheese. 🙂
Thanks, Ben!!!
First off, the lighting on your photos for this recipe is absolutely GORGEOUS! I love me some beautifully lit images where the sun scrapes the top of the food. So pretty. Secondly, I actually LOL’d at this —> “Yes, they’re pretty, but they’re DYING. It’s depressing.” No one really brings up that point but it’s so true. And lastly, send me this! All the heart eyes for different and creative recipes like this!
Thank you so much, Christine!
Love that you had a laugh over the dying leaves. It’s all I think when I see them lol!