A popular comfort food in Italy, polenta is now making a comeback as a delicious alternative to pasta.
Ingredients
Three-Cheese Polenta
2 c chicken broth
2 c milk
3 T unsalted butter
1 c coarse-ground yellow cornmeal or quick-cooking polenta mix
1 c ricotta cheese
1/2 c mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 c Asiago, Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, shredded
1/2 t ea salt and pepper
Italian Sausage Stir-Fry
1 t olive oil
3 Italian sausage links, sweet or hot
1/2 ea red, green, yellow and orange bell pepper, julienned
1/2 red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
8 oz cremini mushrooms, quartered
1/2 pt cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
salt and pepper
fresh basil for garnish
Steps
Three-Cheese Polenta
In a large saucepan bring broth, milk and butter to a boil. Slowly add cornmeal or polenta mix to the boiling liquid, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until mixture returns to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cook for 10 min or until mixture is very thick, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in cheeses and salt and pepper until well mixed. Keep warm.
Italian Sausage Stir-Fry
In a large skillet, heat oil and cook sausage links on all sides until browned.* Remove from pan and slice each sausage into 5-6 diagonal slices, then return to pan to brown the interior. Set aside. In the same pan, sauté peppers, onion and garlic in the skillet to brown. Add mushrooms and sauté. Add sausage back, then tomatoes and stir to warm through. Season with salt and pepper.
Place a mound of polenta on each serving plate as a bed for the stir-fry. Top each plate with a single serving of stir-fry and garnish with fresh basil.
*Sliced sausage links can also be cooked in a 350? oven for 12-15 min.
