It is no secret that I LOVE polenta. So when my pal Jessica Corra told me about this polenta sausage casserole, I HAD to try it. The original recipe came from the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchens. I made a few adaptations--swapping the regular Italian sausage for turkey sausage to drop the fat and calories and adding in red pepper flakes to up the heat since I couldn't find any hot Italian turkey sausage, and sandwiching all the sauce between two layers instead of doing a more lasagna style multilayer affair (though that was more my lack of reading directions). This was SO GOOD. And even better the second day. Servings: 6 at 568 calories and 30 grams of fat per serving.
Ingredients
20 oz Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic or to taste
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups yellow cornmeal
2 cups broth
4¼ cups boiling water
1 tsp salt
½ cup grated parmesan
2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large pot or stock pot, cook sausage and then add the onion and garlic to brown. Then toss the tomatoes (undrained), stir well, and let simmer for about twenty minutes.
In large pot, whisk cornmeal, broth, and salt. Over medium-high heat, add boiling water and continue whisking for five minutes until thickened. Stir in Parmesan.
Spray 9x13 and spread half of polenta on the bottom. Spoon half of sausage mixture over it, top with 1 cup cheese. Spread remaining polenta, and top with remaining sausage mixture. You can leave a little juice in the pot, as it gets pretty soupy.
Bake for fifteen minutes, sprinkle on the remaining cheese, bake for an additional twenty. Let cool and set up a bit before serving
Recipe by Kait Nolan at https://kaitnolan.com/2012/06/27/polenta-sausage-casserole/