For garnish:
For polenta:
Heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat, using the same pan that you plan to cook the polenta in. Fry sage leaves until they are dark green and have stopped bubbling, about 30 seconds. Put the sage on a paper towel to soak up oil.
The sage leaves are an optional garnish and can be skipped, but if you skip them, add a little olive oil and butter to your pan before going on, and heat until the butter stops bubbling.
Add pumpkin and water to the pan. Turn heat to high, whisk, and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper.
Slowly pour in the cornmeal, whising constantly. The mix will become thick extremely fast. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirrling occasionally, until cornmeal is creamy and soft, no longer gritty, about 25 min.
Turn off the heat. Add milk and cheese. Whisk until everything is thoroughly combined.
Oil a 9x9 pyrex pan. Spread the polenta in the pan. Let cool to room temperature. Then wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Invert the polenta onto a cutting board and cut into eight equal portions. Transfer to a lined baking sheet. Top each piece with grated pepperjack.
Bake until the polenta is heated through and the edges are golden-brown, about 30 minutes. Garnish with fried sage and serve.
This makes a ton of polenta, but they last in the fridge for a bit and make a great side dish to just about anything. Uly's mom likes them too, so sometimes we bring a few over.
I made this with no issues multiple times, then once I ran out of cornmeal and had Uly pick some up from PCC. Everything lumped up horribly and despite vigorous whisking, I couldn't get it to smooth out. However, I had also neglected to start with any fat in the pan, so maybe that contributed? I'm not sure, given that regular non pumpkin polenta doesn't need any fat to start. Anyway, I added more water and whisked vigorously, it ended up tasting good but was still a little lumpy.