Shut up and swallow

The dish "Shut up and swallow" is a delicacy from the Moldova region, and in Transylvania, it is known as "Beds", while in other areas, it is called "Layered Polenta". This recipe emerged from the desire to transform a simple polenta into a more sophisticated dish by replacing water with milk and adding sheep cheese and eggs. Over time, the recipe has modernized considerably, and during winter, many choose to add homemade sausages and smoked bacon, thus enhancing the flavor. I have even encountered versions with fried potatoes that turn this dish into a real calorie bomb, but incredibly delicious. It is truly worth trying, even if it is a dish with many calories!

For this recipe, I opted for the Rucăr sheep cheese, a Romanian specialty that we truly take pride in, as well as smoked sausages from Pleşcoi, and for an even more interesting taste, I added quail eggs. We mentally make a list of ingredients and gather everything we need on the work table.

We start by slicing the sausages into round pieces and frying them in lard for a few minutes, making sure to turn them on all sides to brown evenly. After frying, we place them in a sieve to drain the excess fat. If you don’t have lard, you can use oil, but the taste will be different. We crumble the sheep cheese in a bowl, preparing it for when the polenta is ready.

The cornmeal is sifted well through a sieve to obtain a fine texture, free of impurities. Then, we put the milk in a pot over medium heat and add a teaspoon of salt, letting it warm slightly. When it begins to get warm, we add a handful of sifted cornmeal and mix vigorously with a wooden spatula, being careful not to form lumps. When it starts bubbling, we add the remaining cornmeal in a rain and continue mixing.

We let the polenta cook on low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking to the pot. When the polenta starts to pull away from the spatula, we know it is ready. We turn off the heat and add the butter cut into pieces, mixing well until it melts and is evenly incorporated.

We grease a heat-resistant dish with butter, then spread one-third of the polenta. On top, we add the sheep cheese, followed by another third of the polenta. We place the fried sausages over the entire surface and cover with the remaining polenta. With a wet spoon, we make indentations where we will break the quail eggs. We put the dish in the oven at 180 degrees until the egg whites are well set. The yolks can remain softer, but the whites must be fully cooked.

In some modern versions, a little grated cheese is also added on top, but I preferred to keep the quail eggs visible, as they are the stars of the recipe. We serve the layered polenta warm, alongside sour cream. I wish you good cooking and bon appétit, but don’t forget to enjoy in moderation, as it is a very caloric dish!