One-Skillet Sausage and Polenta Parmesan

To be completely honest, I was kind of intimidated to make this dish, simply because I had not been able to use a tube of prepared polenta and have it taste like anything other than, well, cardboard.  This time, however, the results turned out much better and I'm willing to re-try a few of my past prepared polenta failures!

Ingredients:

2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 17oz tube prepared polenta, sliced into 8 rounds
8 oz sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
6 oz cremini mushrooms, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped (I used the jarred minced garlic to make life easier)
1 28oz can whole plum tomatoes, crushed by hand (or one of those handy dandy mashers)
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
2 Tbs chopped fresh parsley, plus more for topping
8 oz sliced mozzarella cheese
2 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Preheat broiler.  Heat olive oil in a large nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat (since I did not have a large nonstick ovenproof skillet available, I used a separate baking dish).  Add the polenta and fry until golden, about 3 minutes per side.  Transfer to a plate.

Add sausage to the skillet and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until just browned, about 3 minutes.  Add the mushroom and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.  Stir in the tomatoes, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper and bring to a boil.  reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in parsley.

If using a separate dish to bake, transfer the mixture from the skillet.  Arrange the polenta rounds in the skillet (or baking dish) on top of the sauce mixture.  Place the mozzarella slice over the polenta and sprinkle with Parmesan.  Broil until the cheese is browned and bubbling, about 3 minutes.  Top with more parsley and pepper to taste.

Serves 4

 

 

*Derived from Food Network Magazine