Italian Sausage Polenta Casserole

 

 

I combined two of my favorite ingredients, sweet Italian sausage and polenta, to make a hearty main dish. Like most casseroles, it works well as a potluck or “take to a friend in need” offering. Turn it into a vegetarian-friendly dish by using vegetable stock and soyrizo. Spice-heads can crank up the heat by adding chile powder, roasted green chile, hot Italian sausage, or hot smoked paprika. Watch the video on my YouTube channel.

Printable recipe

 

Ingredients

• 4 C chicken broth
• 4 C milk (more as needed)
• 2 C polenta
• 1 C crème fraiche
• 1 C grated parmesan
• Salt/pepper
• 3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 lb chorizo
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 T tomato paste
• 3 T butter, melted
• 3/4 C panko bread crumbs

Bring the stock and milk to a boil. Slowly whisk in polenta and reduce to a simmer. Add salt/pepper to your taste. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until smooth and creamy. Carefully watch both the polenta and warm milk to ensure they don’t boil over. If the mixture gets too dry, add more warm water and/or milk. Right at the end of cooking, stir in crème fraiche and parmesan and combine thoroughly. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.

 

On the far left is cornmeal, then grits, then polenta. I use cornmeal for baking, like cornbread and muffins, grits for breakfast, and polenta for side dishes. I prefer my polenta finely ground and my grits more coarsely ground. Here's a good explanation of the three.

Preheat oven to 350°.

 

While the polenta is cooking, brown the sausage and chorizo. Drain and set aside.  My local grocery stocks both Italian sausage and chorizo. If yours doesn't, just buy uncooked, pre-packaged brats (Johnsonville, for example) or chorizo, and cut open the casing.

 

 

In the same skillet, heat olive oil. Sauté onion for two minutes, until translucent. Add garlic and pepper and sauté for another two minutes. Set aside.

 

In a large bowl, mix together the polenta, sausage mixture, vegetables, and tomato paste. Temper the eggs by mixing in small amount of the warm polenta, then stirring back into the mixture. This will keep your eggs from scrambling when you add them to the warm polenta.

Spray a casserole with non-stick spray. Pour in mixture. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

 

While baking, mix the melted butter and panko. Sprinkle on top during the last five minutes of cooking. Return to oven until browned.