Sausage and Veggie Marinara over Polenta

I have been wanting to make polenta for some time, but have refrained from doing so as I never had the cornmeal on hand. Then I really wanted to make cornbread, but didn't have the cornmeal on hand. Hmmm...common problem = common solution! Buy cornmeal. So I went to my trusty Winco bin of cornmeal and bought a good 4-5 cups of cornmeal at $0.40/lb about a month ago. I never did make my cornbread. But I did surrender my recipe to Rex and he made it last Sunday. With my pantry stocked I finally got to make polenta yesterday. Of course polenta by itself is bland-city so I had to spice up the topping a bit with some good Italian-esque flavors. I chose Italian sausage, marinara, mushrooms, carrots, bell pepper, and snap peas. This was then topped with Parmesan cheese. It was good and it was Rex's first exposure to polenta. I really wanted to make a creamy and cheesy polenta, but I opted for traditional for Rex's first time eating it. It was a great meal and I can't wait to start munching on the leftovers.

Of course, my Wok made another appearance (seriously I do use that pan at least 3x a week).

Mushrooms + a frozen pack of stir-fry veggies (I cheated a little!) and sausage.

I usually love making a good tomato sauce from scratch. I buy big cans of whole tomatoes and add a little can of tomato sauce, however, last night we had plans to go to a study on reading/teaching the bible in an expository manner at church. This led to short cuts being taken and it was still just as great :) Sometimes it's easier to cheat and helps with a time crunch. Even though we wound up having plenty of time to make it to our study, it was a nice break from dicing veggies. The meal was easy and probably took me about 20 mins total (not counting the 1 hour break while the polenta cooled). Here was our meal last night:

There is polenta under there, I promise!

INGREDIENTS

1 lb hot Italian sausage

1 pkg fresh mushrooms

1 pkg frozen veggies (your choice!)

1 jar Pasta Sauce w/ garlic (adding oregano and basil to taste)

Parmesan to taste

Polenta

3 c water

1 c cornmeal

DIRECTIONS

1. Boil 2 c water. Using 1 c cold water, mix 1 c cornmeal and stir. Add this mixture to the boiling water slowly, stirring constantly as you add. Once thick, remove from heat. Put polenta on saran wrap and roll into a cylinder to refrigerate 1 hour.

2. Begin simmering your pasta sauce, adding oregano and basil to taste. Allow simmering to take place for at least 30 minutes (but honestly the longer the better!)

3. Once polenta is cool enough, turn on broiler and slice polenta in half lengthwise and then widthwise (picture a garlic bread loaf cut into pieces) and place on a greased cookie sheet. Place in broiler, 5 mins per side)

4. Remove sausage from casing a fry in a skillet or Wok. Once cooked, add vegetables. Cover and allow vegetables to steam for 2-4 mins.

5. Put one serving of polenta on plate, add marinara and sausage mixture. Top with Parmesan and serve.