ITALIAN POLENTA DISHES RECIPES

Steps:

• In 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven, cook sausage and ground beef on medium-high 5 to 6 minutes or until browned, stirring and breaking up meat with side of spoon. With slotted spoon, transfer meat mixture to medium bowl.
• To same Dutch oven, add onion; cook on medium 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic; cook 30 seconds. Add tomatoes with their puree; heat to boiling on high, breaking up tomatoes with side of spoon. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Add eggplant and meat; cover and cook 5 minutes on medium. Uncover and cook 10 minutes longer or until eggplant is tender, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In microwave-safe 4-quart bowl, with wire whisk, combine water, broth, cornmeal, and salt. Microwave on High 15 to 20 minutes or until cornmeal mixture is very thick. After first 5 minutes of cooking, whisk vigorously until smooth (mixture will be lumpy at first); whisk 2 more times during remaining cooking time. Remove from microwave, whisk in Romano.
• Spoon 2 cups hot polenta into each of two 1 1/2-quart shallow casseroles. Spread polenta over bottom and up sides of casseroles. Spoon filling over polenta. Spread remaining polenta around casserole edge to form a rim. Sprinkle with a couple tablespoons additional grated Romano, Parmesan, or Asiago.
• Bake one casserole 30 minutes or until hot. Let stand 10 minutes for easier serving. (Freeze the other one for later.).
• Makes 8 servings (in 2 casserole dishes).
• Note: if you want to lower the fat content, use turkey Italian sausage. Make sure to use quality sausage - I've used my favorite, our freshly made Merguez, and good sausage really makes a difference.

Steps:

• Bring 2 quarts of water and polenta to boil over medium high heat, then reduce heat to a bare simmer.
• Cook the polenta, stirring often, for about 20 minutes, or according to package instructions.
• While the polenta is cooking, julienne the capicola.
• Heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat, and add the capicola and sauté until it is crispy, then drain on paper towels, and reserve.
• Split the avocados in half, remove pit, and slice, then scoop out the slices with a spoon, season with salt and pepper and reserve.
• Fry eggs one at a time in the same pan the capicola was cooked in, transfer to a plate, and reserve.
• When the polenta is cooked, whisk in the butter and season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, spoon polenta into bowls, top with one egg each in the center, fan 1/2 an avocado each to the side of the egg, place 1/4 of the capicola on the avocado, and drizzle the chili crisp over the whole dish.