25 August 2009
Make It: Polenta, Sausage & Zucchini Casserole
I really wanted to call this a cassoulet, but upon further research (Google), I learned that a cassoulet is a slow-cooked bean stew usually containing pork. So casserole it is! I loved the polenta in this recipe as a nice alternative to pasta. It got creamy when baked with the other ingredients. The hands-on time for this dish is about 15-20 minutes with a ~20 minute cook time. It makes about 8 healthy servings.
Here’s a closeup:
And here’s the recipe:
- package premade, ready-to-eat polenta, sliced into thin circles
- 2 zucchinis, sliced into thin circles
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- one bag thawed and drained frozen spinach (you could also use fresh, but you might want to sautee it first)
- 4 ready-to-eat chicken sausages, any flavor (I used basil something or other), sliced into thin circles
- 1 medium eggplant, sliced into thin circles (sweat the liquid out by salting first). I actually used Dominex eggplant patties.
- 1 can tomato sauce of your choice
- 1 cup mozzarella
- parmesan if desired
Preheat oven to 400. Sautee the zuchinni and onion in a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper until slightly soft and translucent. Remove the mixture from the pan and then do the same thing with the eggplant. Then, layer in a casserole dish in this order:
- eggplant
- polenta
- sausage
- zuchinni and onion mixture
- spinach
Pour tomato sauce over entire pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and everything is heating through. Add mozzarella and bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with parmesan and enjoy!
