Sun Dried Tomato And Fennel Sausage Patties With Creamy Polenta Recipes

SAUSAGE WITH CREAMY POLENTA AND TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• For the sausage: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Add the broccoli rabe to the pot and cook for a few minutes. Drain and immediately transfer to the ice bath; let cool. Remove and pat dry, then chop finely. Set aside.
• Run the pork shoulder through a meat grinder, first using the medium grinder-plate, and then using the small grinder-plate.
• Transfer the ground pork to a large mixing bowl. Add the garlic, broccoli rabe, salt, fennel pollen, fennel seeds, red pepper and Parmesan. Mix well.
• Using a sausage stuffer, stuff the sausage mixture into casings, and twist into links. Cut the links to separate the sausages.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place the sausage links into the pot, making sure they're submerged. Turn down the heat and simmer the sausages until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove and dry on paper towels. Set aside.
• For the polenta: In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, 2 cups water and bay leaf to a boil. Season generously with salt, almost to the point of over seasoning. How do you know that you are there? Taste it! When the liquid has reached a boil, slowly whisk in the polenta in small sprinkles. Once all the polenta has been incorporated, reduce the heat to medium and immediately switch over to stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook the polenta until it begins to pull away from the pan, adding water to loosen it up if it becomes too thick. When the polenta is thoroughly cooked, it should look creamy and not feel gritty on your tongue. Remove it from the heat and stir in the Parmesan and mascarpone. Keep warm.
• For the tomato sauce: In a medium pot, combine the garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, 1 cup water, red pepper, basil and some salt. Bring to boil, lower heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
• To serve, spoon a pool of polenta onto a plate, add a ladle of tomato sauce, and top with a sausage.

SUN-DRIED TOMATO AND FENNEL SAUSAGE PATTIES WITH CREAMY POLENTA

Steps:

• For sausage:
• Place half of pork and half of fat in processor. Using on/off turns, blend until pork is ground to coarse texture (about 1/4-inch cubes). Scrape into large bowl. Repeat with remaining pork and fat. Add all remaining sausage ingredients to bowl with pork and mix gently with hands until blended. Using wet hands, shape sausage into 10 oval patties, each about 3/4 inch thick. Place on plastic-lined plate. Cover and chill at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• For sauce:
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage patties and sauté until brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer patties to small baking sheet.
• Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet (or add olive oil to make 2 Add tomatoes with juice and 2 tablespoons basil. Simmer uncovered until sauce thickens, crushing tomatoes with back of fork, about 10 minutes. Add sausage patties and any juices to sauce. Cover; simmer over medium heat until cooked through and tender, turning patties occasionally, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool; cover and chill. Rewarm covered over low heat before continuing.
• Spoon polenta into large shallow bowl. Top with sausages and sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and additional chopped basil. Serve, passing more cheese separately.
• Available at specialty foods stores and from zingermans.com.

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.

SAUSAGE AND FENNEL RAGOUT WITH CREAMY POLENTA

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add in olive oil.
• Add in sausage, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon; cook until browned, 4-5 minutes.
• Add in the red onion, fennel, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes or until the vegetables wilt and the onions become translucent.
• While the vegetables are cooking, start the polenta: In a saucepan, combine 2 ½ cups chicken broth and milk; season with salt and pepper.
• Place over med-high heat and bring to a simmer.
• Back to the vegetables: once the vegetables have wilted, add in the white wine and remaining 1 ½ cups chicken broth to the skillet; increase heat to high and bring up to a simmer.
• Cook about 4-5 minutes, to reduce liquids by half; stir in the chopped parsley.
• To the simmering chicken stock/milk, add in the polenta; whisk constantly until the cornmeal masses together.
• Add in the butter and grated cheese; stir to combine (if polenta becomes too thick, add more broth or milk).
• Serve polenta in a shallow bowl; top with a helping of sausage and fennel ragout; garnish with more Parmigiano-Reggiano.

POLENTA WITH FENNEL, PEPPERS, TOMATOES AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Wash and trim the top branches and the bottom from the fennel. Slice the fennel bulb very thinly into rounds, and then slice the rounds into julienne strips.
• Heat a medium-large nonstick skillet until it is very hot; add oil, reduce heat and stir in the fennel, cooking until fennel begins to brown and soften.
• Wash, trim, seed and thinly slice the peppers, and cut slices into small pieces; add to fennel, and continue to saute over medium heat.
• Wash, trim and cut up tomatoes; add to vegetables when peppers have begun to soften.
• Pit and cut up olives, and add. Cover the pot; reduce heat to simmer, and continue to cook until the vegetables are tender.
• In covered pot, boil stock.
• Grate cheese.
• Slowly stir polenta into boiling stock, reduce heat to medium-high and cook until mixture thickens, just a couple of minutes.
• When polenta is cooked, stir in the cheese, season with salt and pepper, and top with the vegetables.

SMOKY CREAMY POLENTA WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

Steps:

• In a heavy bottom pot melt butter. Add onions season with the salt and cook for 3 minutes.
• Add pepper flakes if using, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and cook until the aroma of the garlic is released, about 1 minute.
• Add Broth bring to a boil. Add chipotle sauce.
• Whisk in corn meal adding in a thin stream so not to clump stirring all the while. When all the corn meal is added lower the flame to medium.
• Stir with a wooden spoon till it comes from the sides of the pot. About 30 minutes. Add the brie and stir till melted and blended inches Or just mix so to leave some of the cheese still present!
• Ahh, the goodness of cheese! Watch this polenta change from just polenta to yummy, creamy, comforting polenta!

CREAMY SUN-DRIED TOMATO FETTUCCINE

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook fettuccine at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water, and set noodles aside.
• Mix together Greek yogurt and sour cream in a small bowl.
• Meanwhile, heat remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sun-dried tomatoes and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and mix in diced tomatoes, sugar, and tomato paste. Stir until well combined. Whisk in yogurt mixture swiftly. You'll want to slowly add it in, but whisk fast to get it all incorporated well. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer until sauce starts to thicken, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add baby spinach to sauce and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add cooked fettuccine and remove skillet from heat. Toss to coat pasta with sauce. If sauce seems too thick, thin with some of the reserved pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Top with crushed red pepper to taste.

SAUSAGE AND FENNEL RAGOUT WITH CREAMY POLENTA

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the EVOO. Add the sausage, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon, and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the red onions, fennel, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes, or until the veggies wilt and the onions become translucent. While the veggies are cooking, start the polenta.
• In a sauce pot combine 2 1/2 cups of the chicken stock and 1 cup of milk. Season the liquid with salt and pepper. Place over medium-high heat and bring up to a simmer.
• Once the veggies have wilted, add the white wine and the remaining 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock to the skillet. Turn the heat to high and bring up to a simmer. Cook to reduce the liquids by half, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley.
• To the simmering chicken stock and milk add the polenta and whisk constantly until the cornmeal masses together. It's so cool how fast this happens-right before your eyes! Add the butter and grated cheese, stirring to combine. Keep in mind that polenta is very forgiving; if it becomes too thick, you can always add more warm chicken stock or milk.
• Serve the polenta in a shallow bowl and top with a helping of the sausage and fennel ragout. Garnish with more grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
• Buy stock or broth in aseptic boxes rather than cans. They might cost a little more, but the stocks especially have great slow-cooked flavor that really makes fast-cooked food taste rich. Plus, whatever you don't use can go directly into the refrigerator, without having to transfer it from a can. If I know I am not going to use my remaining stock within the next few days, I will transfer it to a resealable plastic bag and freeze it flat. (I have had a small revolution of freezer storage space since embracing the freezing of things flat.)