Yup, Talk of Tomatoes is one of my favorite blogs.......comfy food.. and my sons love Italian food. As I am posting this, my oldest is in Italy... no doubt my best Italian meals may pale by comparison of the real thing.....he went as a traveler to absorb......and eat.
For Polenta: (unless you buy the tube, then skip to Tomato Sauce)
3 cups whole milk
1 T butter
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
For Tomato Sauce: (unless you already made and saved this sauce; then skip to Layered Dish)
4 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic
6 Roma tomatoes
1 T oregano AND 2 T basil OR 1 T Italian Herbs
1 tsp kosher salt
pinch sugar
4 T tomato paste
For Layered Dish:
2/3 cup parmesan
1 T olive oil
1 LB mild (or hot if you like) Italian sausage, sauteed
8 oz fresh mozzarella sliced ¼ inch thick OR 8 oz shredded mozzarella
Preheat oven to 375. Make polenta: combine milk, butter, sugar and salt in heavy saucepan and heat to simmer. Slowly add cornmeal in thin stream, whisking constantly. Lower heat and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula (I use a silicone spatula) until mixture has thickened and begins to leave sides of pan, about 10 minutes. Off heat, mix in 1/3 cup parmesan and place in baking dish. (If using tube of polenta, crumble in bowl, add parmesan then press into bottom of pan).
Make tomato sauce: add 4 T olive oil to skillet over medium heat, add garlic, stirring until golden, 3 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, herbs, salt and sugar. Simmer 15 minutes stirring occasionally, add 4 T tomato paste, blend and cook another 3 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté sausage in 1 T olive oil until cooked through.
Sprinkle ½ of the remaining parmesan over polenta, add layer of [all the] sausage, add layer of [all the] tomato sauce, sprinkle remaining parmesan, top with mozzarella and bake for 30-35 minutes (until bubbling). Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Note: I have been known to buy polenta in a tube (sold by Whole Foods, Trader Joes), pre-shredded parmesan and mozzarella for those times when I am cutting myself some slack/taking a break/energy applied elsewhere. If you have made extra tomato sauce, or better yet canned some, then all of this adds to a removal of 2/3 the effort in making this dish. Other times I make the polenta from scratch (recipe above) and slice up fresh mozzarella. This dish is pretty forgiving, so use that oblong dish, or any baking pan roughly equivalent to an 8×8 square dish. 6 servings.
