Did you ever hear of Roveja Wild Pea Polenta? Roveja Wild Pea Polenta is made from small wild peas that grow in various colors of dark brown to reddish and dark green. This pea only grows at high altitudes and has been growing on the Sibillini mountains since ancient times in Italy. Some people use these peas for soup but it is also used for a famous peasant dish with sardines or anchovies with garlic, olive oil and lemon. I found this special Wild Pea Polenta at the on-line Milk Street Store (www.Store.177MilkStreet.com). They said it was better tasting than any other polenta and was very rare. They said it taste earthy and had this great umami to it. I regularly make polenta so I wanted to try it.

It came to me in this package.

It’s hard to read because most of it is in Italian.

Here’s the back with the cooking instructions.

The cooking directions are the 4 squares at the bottom of the bag that is also hard to read.

I figured out that 1/2 the bag (I think it was almost 200 grams gets a liter of water with a splash of olive oil and a little salt. You cook it for around 35 minutes. Mine got lumpy because I did it like regular polenta that you add in when the water is boiling….I guess? that you add this Roveja Wild Pea polenta to cold water that you bring up to a boil and then reduce to a simmer? I was able to fix the lumps by using a stick blender.

This Wild Pea Polenta sets up faster than concrete……I almost couldn’t get them to set in my muffin pan.

Milk Street suggest letting this polenta sit and slice it cold.

I warmed mine up a little but served it with the recommended anchovies, roasted sweet garlic, olive oil, lemon, and one Calabrian chili. I guess it would be more traditional to cook the anchovies, garlic, oil, and lemon into a sauce but I did it this way.

It’s good and different…….I get a mushroomy kind of taste and an almost beef burger kind of taste from it with maybe a very light bitterness. I think the most magnificent vegan burger or meat(less) balls could be made with this Rovega Wild Pea Polenta.

Next time I’ll do something different with Rovega Wild Pea Polenta.

This was a WTFork is That? – Rovega Wild Pea Polenta.

References

www.LegumidItalia.com

www.store.177MilkStreet.com