Creamy Pumpkin Mascarpone Polenta with Brown Butter and Sage

October 1, 2021

This Creamy Pumpkin Mascarpone Polenta with Brown Butter and Sage is a delicious and festive weeknight fall or winter meal when served with roasted vegetables and / or eggs.

With the nights getting cooler and darkness setting in earlier, I’ve started to turn to some of my comfort food and for me, nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of cheesy polenta with a fried egg on top. My go-to for polenta is usually just a ton of cheddar cheese with a little bit of cream cheese mixed in but I decided I wanted to mix it up with this recipe by whirling in mascarpone (for creaminess) and pumpkin (for flavor) to create the perfect fall meal. Oh and did I mention it all comes together in just a little over 30 minutes making it perfect for a simple weeknight meal?

I like to serve this with fried or scrambled eggs to give it a protein boost. If you want to go a step further, you could also add a handful of roasted veggies for an even heartier meal. The one thing I didn’t have on hand that I think could have elevated this even more was some crunchy fried onion strings which could have been a wonderful contrast to the creaminess of the polenta.

Browning the butter and finishing it off with a few sage leaves give another layer of flavor which complements the pumpkin beautifully. When browning the butter, make sure you watch it closely, use a light colored pan (if possible) so you can see the brown bits forming, and swirl the pan often to create a butter that is deeply speckled with flavor.

Also love polenta as much as me? Save these other polenta recipes from my site for later:

Creamy Pumpkin Mascarpone Polenta with Brown Butter and Sage

This Creamy Pumpkin Mascarpone Polenta with Brown Butter and Sage is a delicious and festive weeknight fall or winter meal when served with roasted vegetables and / or eggs.

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Vegetarian

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

4 cups water
1 cup polenta
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz mascarpone cheese
10 oz pumpkin puree (from a can is the easiest but make sure it's not 'pumpkin pie filling')
1/3 cup shredded hard salty cheese (such as Manchego or vegetarian Parmesan)
4 cooked eggs (prepared however you prefer – scrambled, over easy, poached, etc)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
6-8 sage leaves (depending on size)
Black pepper, to taste

Instructions

In a deep saucepan, bring the water and 1/2 tsp salt to a boil over high heat. Stir in the polenta and let boil for 5 minutes, stirring often.
Lower heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so (be careful when you lift the lid to stir as the polenta may spatter up if your saucepan isn't deep).
Remove polenta from heat and stir in the mascarpone, pumpkin puree, and salty cheese. Taste and add pepper along with more salt (if needed). Set aside.
When there is 5 minutes left for the polenta to cook, prepare your eggs however you and your family or friends prefer them (we usually do fried or scrambled).
In a small skillet, heat the butter over medium heat until you start to see brown bits forming at the bottom (about 3 to 5 minutes but watch closely as it'll vary depending on your stove top), swirling the pan often to swish around the butter. Remove from heat and immiedetely toss in the sage leaves.
When ready to serve, transfer the polenta to a serving bowl and top with the eggs you prepared. Drizzle the brown butter and sage leaves over it all and serve right away. Alternatively, you can spoon the polenta into 4 bowls and top each bowl with an egg and 1/4 of the brown butter sage mixture.