Polenta Tamale Casserole Food

CALABACITAS CASSEROLE WITH POLENTA AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
• Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add remaining 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, corn, garlic and chiles. Saute 3 minutes, add zucchini and yellow squash and onions, season with salt and pepper, chili powder; cook 7 to 8 minutes. Add stewed tomatoes and heat through. Transfer to baking dish. Cut 1 tube of polenta in 1/2-inch slices lengthwise. Top vegetables with polenta and cheese. Place in hot oven to melt cheese and warm polenta, 8 to 10 minutes. Garnish with chopped scallions and cilantro or flat-leaf parsley.

POLENTA TAMALE PIE

Steps:

• Sauté beef in heavy large pot over medium-high heat until no longer pink, breaking up meat with back of fork, about 3 minutes. Add chili powder and cumin; stir 1 minute. Add salsa, beans and broth. Simmer until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Mix in 1/4 cup cilantro; season with salt and pepper.
• Oil 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Place half of polenta in dish. Top with sauce and 1 1/2 cups cheese, then remaining polenta, cheese and cilantro. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with foil; chill.)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake freshly assembled pie, uncovered, until heated through and sauce bubbles, about 35 minutes, or bake refrigerated pie, covered, 20 minutes, then uncover and bake until heated through, about 35 minutes.

ITALIAN POLENTA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish.
• Combine cherry tomatoes, basil, garlic, red wine, and 1/8 teaspoon salt for marinara in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to puree. Set aside.
• Bring water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in polenta slowly, whisking constantly to ensure there are no lumps. Bring back to a boil; reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Pecorino Romano cheese and butter.
• Pour half of the polenta into the prepared casserole dish. Top with half of the sliced zucchini, overlapping slices slightly. Top zucchini with half of the marinara sauce, then sprinkle with half of the Italian-style cheese. Repeat layers one more time. Cover.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until cheese on top is slightly brown, about 10 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

OLE POLENTA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• For polenta, in a small bowl, whisk cornmeal, salt and 1 cup water until smooth. In a large saucepan, bring remaining water to a boil. Add cornmeal mixture, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 3 minutes. , Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 15 minutes. Divide mixture between 2 greased 8-in. square baking dishes. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 1-1/2 hours., In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion, green pepper and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms, herbs and hot pepper sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until thickened., Loosen 1 polenta from sides and bottom of dish; invert onto a waxed paper-lined baking sheet and set aside. Spoon half of the meat mixture over the remaining polenta. Sprinkle with half the mozzarella and half the Parmesan cheese. Top with reserved polenta and remaining meat mixture., Cover and bake at 350° until heated through, 40 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until cheese is melted, 5 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

EASY TAMALE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir beef in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes; drain and discard grease. Season beef with salt and pepper.
• Stir onion into the ground beef; cook and stir for 1 minute and immediately remove skillet from heat.
• Stir pinto beans and crushed tomatoes into the beef mixture.
• Beat cream-style corn, cornbread mix, and egg together in a bowl until smooth; spread over the top of the ground beef mixture in the skillet. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over the corn mixture.
• Bake in preheated oven until the cheese is melted and the cornbread is set in the middle, about 25 minutes.

TASTY TAMALE PIE - CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet until beef is browned, and onions tender, drain.
• Stir in salsa (can make smoother in texture in the food processor, if you desire), water and taco seasoning packet; bring to a boil until some of the water as boiled off and it is the sauce is saucy not thin and watery.
• Reduce heat to low and stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes. Add olives, if using, and stir.
• In a medium sauces pan: combine cornmeal, evaporated milk, green chilies, 1/2 C cheese and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 5-7 minutes or until thickened (to the consistency of thin oatmeal).
• In a 8x8 ungreased baking dish: Spoon in meat filling, then spread cornmeal on top of meat mixture.
• Bake for 25 minutes, sprinkle with remaining cheese and garnish w/ jalapenos. Bake an additional 5 minutes until cheese is melted.

HOT TAMALE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• In a small heavy saucepan, bring the water, salt and cayenne to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle boil; slowly whisk in cornmeal. Cook and stir with a wooden spoon for 15-20 minutes or until polenta is thickened and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the pan., Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the beef, onion, green pepper and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Stir in the beans, enchilada sauce, chilies, olives, chili powder and cilantro; heat through., Spread polenta into a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Top with meat mixture. Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 2-5 minutes or until filling is bubbly and cheese is melted.

ITALIAN POLENTA CASSEROLE

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.