Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Sweet Pumpkin Cornmeal Mush

Sweet Pumpkin Cornmeal Mush
Sweet Pumpkin Cornmeal Mush
What the rest of the world calls 'polenta', those of us with a Southern and Midwestern family influence call 'cornmeal mush'. Normally we eat it savory, smothered in butter, salt and often times, cheese.

Wanting to do something a little different, I decided to go sweet, with pumpkin, and the result is velvety and divine. Leave out the very small amount of butter and this can easily go vegan.


Sweet Pumpkin Cornmeal Mush
Sweet Pumpkin Cornmeal Mush

Sweet Pumpkin Cornmeal Mush
Serves 8
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Printable Recipe

3 cups water - divided
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup finely ground cornmeal
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar - divided
1/3 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Blend together 1 cup water and cornmeal - set aside.
3. Combine 2 cups water and pumpkin puree in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and pour in cornmeal slurry, stirring constantly with a wire whisk.
4. Reduce heat to low and continue stirring until thickened, which is almost immediately.
5. Remove from heat and stir in 1/3 cup brown sugar, vanilla, butter and pumpkin pie spice. Blend well.
6. Pour into 8 small (1 1/2 cup capacity) oven-safe bowls.
7. Stir together 1/3 cup brown sugar and pecans. Top each bowl evenly with mixture.
8. Place bowls on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until brown sugar is melted and bubbling. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

11 comments:

Annie Jones said...

Sounds really good. I'm having company for Sunday breakfast and this sounds like something I could add to that menu.

Anne Coleman said...

I'm surprised at how well it turned out. Sometimes blending unusual flavors doesn't work so well, but this tastes very much like pumpkin pie! Much healthier, though :)

Lydia said...

Yum! I had a very similar idea of combining Indian Corn Pudding, which I made last year for Xmas, with Pumpkin Pie, as the textures and flavors were quite similar. I may still do that sometime this season, but this definitely would be a lot quicker and easier to throw together!

Anne Coleman said...

Oh, Lydia - that would be good, too! I think you should still do it and post about it!

monicajane said...

sounds fantastic! yum.

Being that I live in the South and I'm Italian by ancestry...near ancestry...Italian was spoken in my home...

I will say there is a difference between Southern "cornmeal mush" and polenta.

Here in the south it's generally a fine grain, though not always. But polenta, to be real and authentic is always a very course grain...

I love both southern style and Italian...but I have experienced them as different. I guess though, now I see "grits" and stuff being quite coarse as well so it is becoming more similar...

Does this ring true for you at all? I have only lived in the South for 7 years. So my impressions could be wrong. I do know though that sometimes Americans make Polenta with fine cornmeal and they don't realize that it's not really Polenta.

thanks for finding me on facebook, I was very pleased to see you!

Anne Coleman said...

Yes! You've validated me :) In my family, the finer grain mush was always that; mush. When I was in school and we would make polenta for the restaurant, it was always coarse grain and thick enough to cut. So, I went with the less desirable sounding 'mush' and I'm very happy to hear that I'm fairly correct!

I finally figured out how to 'follow' you without the Google Friend Connect and I'm very happy!

Anonymous said...

yummy but unluckily i don't like to cook..he he

kat said...

A great idea for a Thanksgiving sidedish

Jennie said...

Looks and sounds wonderful! Perfect for Thanksgiving!

The Coupon Goddess said...

Sounds great, but what do you do with the butter?

Unknown said...

Wow just the recipe I have been looking for.

Share some of this with this community that I am a member of called bizymoms Bethlehem community.