Polenta with Lamb Kidney

My mom sent me a Italian travel cook book. Avventura: Journeys in Italian Cuisine with David Rocco which has lots of nice photos both of Italy and food. I wanted to post a fava bean recipe from Vieste, but I just don't like it! So I'm posting about Polenta con Tapulone Di Manzo (Polenta with Seasoned Beef) from Stresa. I changed the recipe up a bit, replacing ground beef with lamb kidney, cutting out the most of the butter and all the lard and using express polenta. Kidney cooks way faster than ground beef so the cooking time was shorted from 40 min to 15. Feel free to use ground beef if you like, but I would still skip the lard!

Polenta with Lamb Kidney
Serves Four

For the Kidney
1 tsp oil
1 large chopped onion
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 cup chopped cabbage
3 Kidneys cleaned washed and chopped (or 1/2 kg of ground beef)
3 whole cloves
1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1/2 cup wine (dry red for beef)
(1 or 2 cups of stock if using beef)

Saute the onions, garlic, and cabbage in oil with the spices over med heat. Once the cabbege softens (about 10 min) add the wine and kidneys. Cook for 5 more min or until the the kidney are brown and have no more red juice. Check the for salt and peper and add what is needed.

If using beef I would add the wine and stock after the meat is brown and then cook slow and low for 30 min.

For the Express Polenta
1/2 litter of boiling water
1 stock cube
250 gm of express polenta (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 tsp butter or olive oil
salt

In a pot on med heat mix the boiling water with the stock cube. Slowly add the polenta and stir stir stir until all the water is gone. Add the butter or oil and stir stir stir. Check the salt and add more if needed. Plate before the polenta hardens. Make sure to shape the leftover polenta into a brick shape right away if you would like to grill it the next day.

Top the polenta with the kidney. Fast and Fancy!