Italian Polenta Casserole
This recipe is courtesy of Good Housekeeping and it is a keeper! The polenta is easily made in the microwave, plus the recipe makes enough for 2 casseroles. I substituted ground turkey and the taste was amazing! Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 12 oz Italian turkey sausage (choose hot or mild depending on your preferences.)
- 12 oz meatloaf mix (veal, pork, and beef) or ground beef chuck I chose to use ground turkey instead and it was delicious
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 28 oz can whole tomatoes
- 1 small eggplant (chopped)
- 4 cups water
- 14 oz can chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cups grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large pan, cook sausage and meatloaf mix on medium-high 5 to 6 minutes or until browned, stirring and breaking up meat with side of spoon. With slotted spoon, transfer meat mixture to medium bowl.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In microwave-safe 4-quart bowl, with wire whisk, combine water, broth, cornmeal, and salt. Microwave on High 15 to 20 minutes or until cornmeal mixture is very thick. After first 5 minutes of cooking, whisk vigorously until smooth (mixture will be lumpy at first); whisk 2 more times during remaining cooking time. Remove from microwave, whisk in cheese.
- In the same pan as the meat, add onion; cook on medium 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic; cook 30 seconds. Add tomatoes with their puree; heat to boiling on high, breaking up tomatoes with side of spoon. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Add eggplant and meat; cover and cook 5 minutes on medium. Uncover and cook 10 minutes longer or until eggplant is tender, stirring occasionally.
- Spoon 2 cups hot polenta into each of two 1 1/2-quart shallow casseroles (8x8 square pan or 9 in pie pan works well). Spread polenta over bottom and up sides of casseroles. Spoon filling over polenta. Spread remaining polenta around casserole edge to form a rim. Work quickly as polenta hardens as it cools.
- Bake one casserole 30 minutes or until hot. Let stand 10 minutes for easier serving. Meanwhile, prepare second casserole for freezing and have dinner already to go for another night. Enjoy!
Notes
I had 16 oz of ground turkey on hand and adjusted the recipe to only use 8 oz of Italian sausage. The flavors were excellent.
Tips from Good Housekeeping:
To reheat after thawing 24 hours:
Conventional oven: Heat, loosely covered, at 350 degrees F 1 hour; uncover and heat 20 minutes longer.
Microwave oven: Heat, covered, on Low (30 percent) 20 minutes, then on High 18 minutes longer.