Polenta-Stuffed Mushrooms

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the stock to boiling. Add the cornmeal in a thin stream, constantly whisking, until all of the cornmeal is incorporated and the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir, now using a wooden spoon, until the polenta sets into a paste.

3. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the butter, the prepared pine nuts and olives. Cover and set aside.

4. Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems and any gills. Reserve the stems for another use or add them to your freezer bag of stock vegetables. Coat the mushroom caps with olive oil and place them stem side up on a silicone mat lined baking sheet. Put one ball of Asiago in the bottom of each mushroom cap then fill the cap with polenta and bake for 25 minutes.

5. While the mushrooms are baking, melt the remaining butter over medium-low heat in a large sauté pan then add the shallots. Cook for 2 minutes to sweat them, then remove the shallots from the pan and reserve.

6. Add the tomatoes into the pan, cut side down. Pierce the skin side with the point of a knife. Cook without disturbing them at all for 5 minutes. Turn over the tomatoes and sprinkle the cut sides with the salt, basil and pepper flakes. Cook for 3 minutes and then turn again to release more juices into the pan.

7. Return the sweated shallots to the pan and stir in the Moscato. Cook for 2 minutes and then use a pair of tongs to remove the loosened skins from the tomatoes and discard them. Stir then cover the pan and remove from heat to keep warm.

To serve, spoon a pool of sauce on the plate and place three mushrooms on top of the sauce. Drizzle a small amount of sauce on top of the mushrooms.