Sausage Peppers With Polenta Grilled Toast Food

SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS WITH TOASTED POLENTA

Steps:

• Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in cornmeal; season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, whisking, until thick, 8 minutes. Transfer to an oiled 8-inch baking dish. Refrigerate until firm, 45 minutes or overnight.
• Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Cook sausage until browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Add onion and peppers; cook over medium until onion is caramelized and sausage is cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Add oregano and 1/4 cup water to skillet; using a wooden spoon, scrape browned bits from bottom. Transfer mixture to bowl. Wipe skillet clean.
• Cut polenta into 8 triangles. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Cook half of polenta until golden, 4 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining oil and polenta. Serve hot with sausages, vegetables, and pan sauce.

SAUSAGE AND PEPPER SKEWERS WITH GRILLED POLENTA

Steps:

• Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 6 cups of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling slowly whisk in the polenta, making sure to keep whisking until smooth and thick about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the cooked polenta into the baking pan and smooth the top. Let cool until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. When the polenta is cool, invert it onto a cutting board and slice it into 12 squares. Brush the squares with a little canola oil and grill until they are heated through and have nice grill marks, about 2 minutes per side.
• Meanwhile, if you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes or while you prepare the sausage and peppers.
• Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium heat. Arrange the sausages on the grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes giving them a 1/4 turn every couple of minutes. Remove them to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes, then cut them into 1/2-inch thick pieces. The sausage will not be completely cooked through. It will finish cooking on the skewers with the peppers and onions.
• While sausage is cooking, core and slice the peppers. Cut them and the onion into 1 by 1-inch pieces.
• In a small bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons canola oil, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning and mustard.
• When you are ready, heat the grill or grill pan over medium heat. Thread each skewer with 3 pieces of the sausage, 4 pieces of onion and green pepper and 2 pieces of the red pepper making sure to alternate the ingredients. Brush them with the oil and vinegar mixture and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Grill the skewers on both sides until they are hot and sizzling, about 6 to 8 minutes. Arrange them on a serving platter and serve with the grilled polenta. Reserve 2 skewers for Round 2 recipe Sausage and Pepper Ziti.

POLENTA WITH SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS

Steps:

• Bring 6 cups of water to a simmer and add the polenta. Cook over low heat, stirring often, 45 minutes. Stir in the butter, Parmesan and olive oil and keep warm.
• Add the tomatoes, sausage, garlic, peppers, onion and crushed red pepper to a large cast-iron pot and simmer, 30 minutes. Serve sauce over polenta, topped with some ricotta and basil.

SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS

Steps:

• Saute onions, peppers and chile in olive oil until onions are brown. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in garlic and basil. Add oregano. Hold aside.
• Prick sausage all over with a fork. Saute in skillet over medium heat until brown. Add enough wine to cover about 2/3 of the sausage. Add Sauteed vegetables, tomatoes and any liquid. Simmer gently, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Remove sausage and slice into 1-inch pieces. Can be served on pasta or with bread.

SAUSAGE, ONION AND BELL PEPPER BROCHETTES WITH GRILLED KICKED UP POLENTA SQUARES

Steps:

• Preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Thread the sausages, red and green bell pepper pieces, and onions alternately onto the skewers. Grill the brochettes until the sausage is cooked through and the vegetables are lightly charred, turning occasionally, about 8 to 12 minutes. Meanwhile, place the polenta squares on the grill and cook until warmed through and marked by the grill, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
• Remove the brochettes and grilled polenta from the grill. With the prongs of a fork, slide the sausages and vegetables from the skewers and serve on top of the grilled polenta squares.
• In a heavy medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil over high heat. Stir the polenta and salt into the water, lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, stirring from time to time. Cook until the polenta is cooked through and thickens, about 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheese and jalapenos until smooth. Pour the polenta into a lightly oiled, shallow baking dish. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 6 hours and up to 2 days in advance.
• Run a knife around the edge of the baking dish and unmold the polenta onto a cutting board. Cut into 3-inch by 3-inch squares and keep cool, wrapped, until ready to grill.

POLENTA CASSEROLE WITH SAUTEED BELL PEPPERS AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the polenta in half-inch slices and cover the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish. Press together to make one layer.
• Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers, onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook until peppers are soft, about 5 minutes. Add sausage and cook until the meat loses its raw color, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes, cook about 1 minute.
• Add tomatoes and juice; bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Take off heat and stir in the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Spread sausage mixture evenly over the polenta and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in middle rack of oven until the polenta is heated through, about 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley before serving. Serves 6 to 8.

BAKED POLENTA WITH SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Combine water and milk in a large saucepan with polenta. Bring to a boil over high heat; add Parmesan cheese and butter. Stir constantly until thickened, about 3 minutes. Pour polenta into a large, round casserole dish, filling about 1 inch deep.
• Heat olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir sausage, mushrooms, onion, and garlic in the skillet until sausage is browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes. Add wine, tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, Italian seasoning, and oregano; cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.
• Pour tomato sauce mixture over polenta. Top with mozzarella cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden, about 20 minutes.

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.

GRILLED ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH PEPPERS AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Combine bell peppers and onions in a large bowl. Add olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Using a toothpick, poke 4 holes into each sausage to prevent them from exploding on the grill.
• Place vegetables in a grill basket and cook for 2 minutes. Add sausage directly to the grate and grill for 4 minutes. Flip sausage over, stir vegetables, and grill for 4 minutes more.

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.