Polenta With Spicy Sausage And Red Pepper Relish Recipes

CREAMY POLENTA WITH PARMESAN AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Put oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add sausages and cook, turning occasionally, until well browned on all sides and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, put cornmeal in a medium saucepan along with 1 cup water and whisk well to make a slurry; continue whisking mixture to eliminate any lumps. Put pan over medium-high heat, sprinkle with salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, whisking frequently and adding water as needed to keep mixture loose and free of lumps, between 3 and 4 more cups. If mixture becomes too thick, simply add a bit more water; consistency should be similar to sour cream's.
• Polenta will be done in 15 to 30 minutes, depending on grind. Add cheese and butter. Taste and add salt, if necessary, and lots of pepper; serve topped with sausages.

SWEET AND SPICY PEPPER RELISH

Steps:

• Wearing rubber or latex gloves, trim tops off chiles. Working in batches, pulse chiles, bell peppers, and onion in a food processor until chopped into fine bits, about 1 minute per batch. Transfer to a nonreactive 3-quart pot.
• Stir sugar, vinegar, and salt into chile mixture and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring more frequently toward end of cooking to prevent scorching, until thickened, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Pour or ladle relish into clean, wide-mouth, half-pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims clean with a damp paper towel. Let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.
• Apply clean lids. Enjoy immediately, store in fridge 2 to 3 weeks, or freeze up to 6 months.

ROASTED RED PEPPER POLENTA

Steps:

• To fire-roast the red peppers, place them over a high flame on a stove-top burner and roast, turning occasionally, until the skins turn black on all sides. Place the peppers in a medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Peel away the blackened skins from the peppers. Cut away the stems and then seed, core and coarsely chop the peppers. Place them in a food processor and puree until smooth; reserve to the side.
• In a heavy-bottom medium pot, bring 8 cups water, thesalt and the roasted red pepper puree to a boil. Add the stone-ground cornmeal in a gentle stream, whisking or stirring vigorously in the same direction as you pour it in. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring continuously for 2 to 3 minutes. Cook the polenta for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent it from sticking. When the polenta is thick, glossy and pulling away from the side of the pan, add the Pecorino Romano and butter, stirring quickly to incorporate. Pour the polenta into a medium serving dish and serve immediately.

SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS WITH FRIED POLENTA

Steps:

• First make the polenta. Bring the chicken stock to a boil, add the salt and gently whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the cornmeal thickens, stirring frequently, about 15-20 minutes. (Note: The exact ratio of stock to cornmeal you will need will vary depending on the coarseness of the cornmeal.
• If you are worried, start with 3 cups of stock and keep the other cup hot in a small saucepan and add until you have the consistency you desire.) Remove from the heat and add the butter, stir well until melted. Lightly oil a baking dish and transfer the hot polenta to the baking dish. Spread evenly, the polenta should be 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Refrigerate uncovered until firm, about 2 hours.
• When the polenta is firm transfer it to a cutting board. Slice the polenta into the desired sizes. I like to use a round pastry cutter to create round slices of polenta, which looks nice but inevitably leads to waste - or what I like to call chef's treats. Cutting triangles would probably be just as visually appealing and less wasteful.
• Slice the onion and peppers thin and then saute over medium heat in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, about 25 minutes. The peppers and onions should be soft and caramelized.
• While the onions and peppers are cooking, slice the sausage links into 1 inch pieces and cook over medium-high heat, until well browned on all sides. When the sausage is almost completely cooked through, transfer it to the pan with the peppers and onions, including most of the sausage fat that has rendered in the pan (try to reserve about a tablespoon in the pan), toss well and reduce the heat to keep warm while frying the polenta slices.
• In the saute pan that the sausage was cooked in, fry the polenta slices on medium-high heat until lightly golden and crispy, about 4-5 minutes per side. If there isn't enough sausage fat to fry all of the slices use olive oil to finish frying.
• Serve the sausage and peppers over the polenta slices.

SAUSAGE & PEPPERS WITH CHEESE POLENTA

Steps:

• In a large heavy saucepan, bring 2-1/2 cups broth and water to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle boil; slowly whisk in cornmeal. Cook and stir with a wooden spoon 15-20 minutes or until polenta is thickened and pulls away cleanly from sides of pan., Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add sausage, peppers and onion; cook and stir 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add remaining broth, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan; heat through., Remove polenta from heat; stir in cheese, milk and butter until cheese is melted. Serve with sausage mixture.

POLENTA WITH SALAMI AND ROASTED RED PEPPERS

Steps:

• Place chicken stock or broth and butter into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the polenta and cook, stirring constantly, for 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; cook and stir for 5 more minutes. Check the seasoning, then add salt & pepper to taste.
• Pour equal amounts of mixture into two 8" square cake pans and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Unmold polenta from pans and slice into 1/2" thick slices. Heat slices in a 400 degree oven on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes before serving.

POLENTA WITH SAUSAGE AND TOMATO PEPPER SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick pan until it is very hot.
• Remove sausage from casing, and break into bite-size pieces. Reduce heat to medium high; sauté sausage until it browns on both sides.
• Chop whole onion.
• Add oil to pan. Then, add onion and cook until it softens. Mince garlic, and add to pan.
• Bring broth to boil in covered pot.
• Wash, trim, seed and chop peppers. Add them and the hot pepper flakes to the onion as it cooks. Sauté a minute or two, and stir in thyme, oregano, tomatoes and sherry; reduce heat to low, and cook mixture.
• Slowly stir the polenta into the boiling stock. Cook over medium high heat until polenta boils and thickens. Season with pepper and salt. Serve topped with the sausage-vegetable mixture.

BREAKFAST POLENTA WITH SAUSAGE, ONION AND PEPPERS

Steps:

• Butter 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Sauté sausage in skillet over medium heat 8 minutes, breaking up sausage with fork. Add onion, bell pepper and oregano. Sauté until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Bring water to boil in medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in cornmeal. Reduce heat to medium-low; whisk until cornmeal is tender and very thick, about 7 minutes. Stir in cheese and sausage mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into prepared dish. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Cut polenta into 2-inch squares. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté half of squares until brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to platter; tent with foil. Repeat with remaining butter and squares. Serve hot.