Autumn Appetizer with Polenta, Speck, Cheese and Mushrooms

🧾 General Information

• Category: Appetizer
• Servings: 4
• Food cost target: 22–28%
• Service time: 5 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy

⚖️ Portion Sizes

• Grilled polenta: 60 g
• Melting cheese: 25 g
• Crispy speck: 10 g
• Sautéed mushrooms: 20 g
• Fresh sage leaf: 1

🧾 Total Ingredients (4 servings)

Base

• 300 g firm polenta
• 120 g melting cheese such as fontina or scamorza
• 40 g thinly sliced speck
• 120 g porcini mushrooms or button mushrooms
• 20 g butter
• 1 garlic clove
• 8 sage leaves
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper

⚙️ Base Preparation (Prep)

Polenta

• Cook the polenta and spread it onto a tray.
• Let it cool completely.
• Cut into regular rectangles or squares.
• Grill in the oven or on a griddle.

Mushrooms

• Sauté the mushrooms with butter, garlic and pepper.
• Adjust with salt.
• Keep ready for service.

Speck

• Crisp the speck in the oven or in a pan.
• Keep dry until service.

👨‍🍳 Service Procedure

1. Heat the polenta base.
2. Place the cheese on top of the polenta and let it melt slightly.
3. Add the crispy speck.
4. Finish with the sautéed mushrooms.
5. Garnish with a sage leaf.
6. Serve hot.

🔑 Critical Control Points (CCP)

• Polenta: crispy outside and soft inside.
• Cheese: melted but not overly runny.
• Speck: crispy and not burnt.
• Mushrooms: dry and flavorful.

🍽️ Plating

• White rectangular plate or black slate.
• Arrange 3 pieces per portion.
• Polenta should be clearly visible and golden.
• Finish with:
  • fresh sage leaf
  • black pepper
  • light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Premium Option

• light Parmesan fondue
• grated black truffle
• mushroom powder

🛠️ Recommended Professional Equipment

All the equipment listed is available for purchase on Ristorazione-Refrigerazione.it.

• Professional polenta cooker for large volumes.
• Blast chiller for rapid cooling.
• Combi oven for gratinating and melting cheese.
• Professional griddle for grilling the polenta.
• Cutter for creams and fondue preparations.

💰 Estimated Food Cost

• Cost per portion: ~€1.05
• Recommended selling price: €8–12 depending on the venue

🔄 Menu Adaptability

• Wine bar: premium finger food.
• Bistro: quick autumn appetizer.
• Catering: excellent holding and easy reheating.

🧠 Professional Logic

Dish designed for:

• strong visual impact
• high profitability
• advance preparation
• fast service

Final quality depends on the crispness of the polenta, the melting of the cheese and the balance between speck and mushrooms.