Polenta And Braised Pork Lasagne Food

PORK MARSALA WITH POLENTA

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler. Lay the polenta slices on a baking sheet and brush the tops with 1 tablespoon olive oil; season generously with salt and pepper. Broil until browned around the edges and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes.
• Meanwhile, season the pork with salt and pepper. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the pork and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side; remove to a plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, the mushrooms, sliced garlic, shallot and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms brown in spots, 6 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth and wine; bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
• Return the pork and any juices to the skillet. Cook over low heat until the pork is cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the orange juice and season with salt and pepper.
• Combine the orange zest, parsley and minced garlic in a small bowl. Divide the polenta among plates. Top with the pork, mushroom sauce and parsley mixture.

POLENTA LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Spoon 1/2 cup marinara sauce into an 8" square baking dish to cover bottom, and set aside.
• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until tender.
• Stir in sausage; cook 2 minutes.
• Add mushrooms, zucchini, garlic and Italian seasononing; saute 2 minutes or until mushrooms are tender, stirring frequently.
• Add marinara sauce; reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
• Arrange 9 polenta slices over marinara in baking dish, and top evenly with half of vegetable mixture.
• Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese over vegetable mixture; arrange remaining polenta over cheese.
• Top the polenta with remaining vegetable mixture, and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
• Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
• Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until bubbly.
• Let stand 5 minutes.
• Serve with a nice Chianti or other robust red wine.

SLOW ROASTED ITALIAN PORK WITH POLENTA

Steps:

• PORK
• Rub the pork with 1 Tablespoon salt and pepper, a teaspoon of paprika, and one of the smashed garlic cloves. Place in a plastic zip bag or plastic storage container. Store in the fridge overnight or a for a few hours before cooking.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Using a sharp knife, score fat (but not meat) on pork in a diamond pattern. Pulse herbs and the rest of the garlic in a food processor until combined. Slowly add oil and continue pulsing until a thick paste forms. Stir in 1 Tablespoons salt, 1 Tablespoon pepper; rub mixture all over pork.
• Place the onion slices in a foil lined roasting pan or large Dutch oven. Place pork, fat-side up, on top of the onion halves; add 1 1/2 cups water to bottom of the pan. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil (about 1 Tablespoon) on top of the pork. Cover with foil or lid (if in a Dutch oven) and roast until meat is starting to become tender, about 3 hours. Remove foil or lid and continue cooking until meat is fork-tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours more. Cook 30 minutes per pound total, or until the internal temperature as measured with a meat thermoter is 160 F. Remove pork from the oven and allow to rest 15 minutes before pulling apart or cutting.
• Carefully transfer pork to a large bowl, leaving juices in pan. When cool enough to handle, use two forks to shred meat into bite-size pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Transfer shredded pork back to pot and toss with juices. If you prefer to serve in larger pieces as we did, transfer to a cutting board and slice your pork into desired thickness.

POLENTA LASAGNA

Steps:

• Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put 4 cups of water into a pot and set over medium-high heat. Slowly whisk in the polenta so no lumps form. Add a big pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a boil. Lower the heat and cook according to the package directions. When it is finished, stir in the butter and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan.
• Spread a cup of the Slow-Cooker Bolognese in the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Add half the polenta and spread it evenly over the sauce. Add a layer of 6 slices provolone and 3/4 cup mozzarella, then top with 2 cups of the sauce. Make another layer with the remaining polenta. Top with the remaining provolone, 3/4 cup mozzarella and remaining sauce. Sprinkle over the rest of the mozzarella and Parmesan.
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the cheese is browned and bubbling, about 15 minutes more. Let rest for 20 minutes before serving.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery, carrots and onions, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute. Pour in the red wine and cook until it is mostly evaporated, about 3 minutes. Pour this mixture into a slow cooker.
• Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons oil into the skillet, add the beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up any lumps, until it is nicely browned, about 15 minutes. Drain off any excess fat. Stir in the milk and cook until it is mostly absorbed by the meat, about 5 minutes. Add this to the slow cooker along with the tomatoes, oregano, basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, nutmeg and Parmesan rind if using. Add some salt. Give it a good stir, cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
• Skim off any fat on top and check the consistency. If it is too thick, add a bit of water. If it is too thin, cook for another 30 minutes with the cover off.

POLENTA AND BRAISED PORK "LASAGNE"

Steps:

• Make polenta:
• In a heavy saucepan bring water and salt to a boil and gradually whisk in cornmeal in a thin stream. Cook polenta over moderately low heat (it should be barely boiling), stirring constantly, until very thick and pulls away from side of pan, about 40 minutes for cornmeal and about 15 minutes for instant polenta. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm. Stir polenta just before using. Polenta will keep warm, covered, about 20 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.
• Note: In the traditional method of cooking polenta, forty minutes of constant stirring is required to achieve a lumpless texture and fragrant flavor. However, Italian-food expert Marcella Hazan has developed a method that involves very little stirring during this time. We believe it produces a very good polenta, one nearly as flavorful and smooth as the traditional procedure. To make satisfactory polenta in a real hurry, an imported instant polenta (precooked cornmeal) is available. This cooks in a mere fifteen minutes.
• On a lightly oiled large baking sheet spread warm polenta into a 15- by 12-inch rectangle (about 1/2 inch thick) and cool to room temperature. Polenta may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.
• Make filling:
• Pat pork dry and season with salt. In a heavy 7- to 8-quart kettle heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown pork in 2 batches, transferring with tongs to a bowl. In fat remaining in kettle sauté onion and celery, stirring occasionally, until just tender. Add garlic and rosemary and sauté, stirring, 1 minute. Return pork to kettle and add tomatoes with juice and 2 cups water. Simmer mixture, covered, 1 1/2 hours, or until meat is very tender.
• Transfer pork to a cutting board to cool. In a small bowl stir together flour and remaining 3 tablespoons water and whisk into liquid remaining in kettle. Discard bones and fat from pork and chop meat. Add pork and tomato paste to kettle, stirring, and simmer until filling is reduced to about 6 cups. Filling may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Make béchamel sauce:
• In a small saucepan heat butter over moderate heat until foam subsides and whisk in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 1 minute and add milk in a stream, whisking. Simmer béchamel sauce, whisking, until smooth and thickened slightly, about 2 minutes, and season with salt.
• Cut polenta into 3-inch squares. In a 3-quart shallow baking dish spoon half of filling and top with half of polenta squares. Repeat layering with remaining filling and polenta squares and spread béchamel sauce over top to cover completely. Sprinkle cheese over béchamel sauce and bake, uncovered, 45 minutes, or until heated through and top is golden.