Mamaliga is a cornmeal porridge, sometimes with cheese, that you’ll find all over the place in Romania.
I was talking about American cereal brands the other day and remembered some of my favorites, like Apple Jacks and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Sugary garbage, I’m sure, but my childhood nonetheless.
So I can’t get this apple-cinnamon flavor out of my head and it suddenly hits me that these are flavors that would work in a mamaliga.
I used a mamaliga recipe out of Irina Georgescu’s Carpathia cookbook to get the ratios. I subbed in coconut butter and grated apples, and I added cinnamon and honey to the mix.
I went the full breakfast route, subbing the dollop of sour cream that usually goes on top of mamaliga with Greek or Oat Milk Yogurt to keep it vegan. It’s also rhubarb season here, so I topped it off with a scoop of homemade compote before sprinkling some chopped toasted almonds, apples, and cinnamon to finish my bowl of Apple Cinnamon Mamaliga.
Apple Cinnamon Mamaliga
Equipment
- 1 Medium pot
- 1 Whisk
Ingredients
- 150 ml oat milk
- 75 ml water
- 75 g polenta
- 25 g coconut butter
- 88 g apple grated (about one apple, save leftovers for chopping and topping the dish)
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp honey or date syrup to go vegan
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1 tbsp yogurt use Greek yogurt or oat milk yogurt to go vegan
- 1 1/2 tsp compote
- 1 tsp toasted almonds chopped
Instructions
- Bring the milk and water to boil in a pot over medium-high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium and slowly stir in the polenta.
- As the polenta is absorbed and turns into a thick porridge, add your butter, grated apples, and honey. Continue to mix until well incorporated.
- Season with cinnamon and kosher salt to taste. Top with a heaping spoonful of yogurt, rhubarb compote, chopped toasted almonds, chopped apples, and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
