Italian Sausage Ragu with Cheesy Polenta

It’s 2:20 am and Anabela is sleeping (which is not always the case at this time) so I decided to make Italian sausage ragu just because! :)

Just kidding…not about making of the Italian sausage ragu part but about just because part. My boyfriend is flying in late from his game in Belgrade so I made him a full dinner with protein rich salad, ragu with polenta as the main dish and desert and all. It wouldn’t be fair to have him eat a sandwich after the long and late trip.

Off I go to share the recipe, it’s quite simple actually, when I make it for myself I make it with red wine while tonight I made it ‘healthy way for an athlete’ with home made chicken stock.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 of a big onion finely chopped
1 big clove of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
6 mid size Italian sausages
1.5 tbsp of fresh rosemary leaves
1 cup (cc 250ml) of red wine or chicken stock
Instant polenta
1 tbsp of tomato paste
400g chopped cherry tomatoes (you can use a can of pellati tomatoes as well)
grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Optional: mushrooms

DIRECTIONS
If you are using cooked sausages you don’t need to bake them, I used fresh ones and I baked them before preparing as part of the recipe.

BAKING SAUSAGES

Heat the oven on 200C. Coat the baking pan with aluminum foil (for easy cleaning) spread sausages evenly over the pan and bake for 20-30 min. Let cool a bit, slice and prepare as per recipe bellow.

1. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Cook onion until softened and gold in color. Add the sausage slices in pieces, garlic and cook for about 5 minutes until the sausage is browned and all well combined. If you are using mushrooms add them now, cook with steering until mushrooms are softened.

2. Add wine/chicken stock and cook for a few minutes until liquid is slightly reduced. Add tomato paste and stir for a bit, then stir in tomatoes. Add spices, salt and pepper to taste. Increase the heat to high and bring to the boil. When it bubbles Reduce to low and simmer for 15 minutes until liquid is reduced and you reach desired thickness of the ragu sauce.

3. Meanwhile, cook polenta according to packet instructions (I got instant 1min polenta. Add grated cheese, serve topped with the sausage ragu, parmesan cheese and topped with rest of the rosemary.

I served it with salad.
Bon appetite!

 

Katarina Štimac, fashion blog – LaKatwalk

Facebook Like Button