#22: Sausage, Fennel & Kale Polenta
an ultra cozy fall meal
Welcome to The Kitchen Club! Today’s recipe is another recipe that can be used in multiple ways. Polenta falls into the same category as a pot of rice or pasta. It is a good foundation for tons of meals and an easy recipe to have in your back pocket. Your subscription to The Kitchen Club helps these recipes get developed, tested, and sent out to you. Thank you! If you enjoy today’s newsletter maybe give it a share?!
Today’s topic: Polenta! How do we feel about polenta? I’ll go first, I freaking love it! It’s creamy, comforting, and happens to be gluten-free. I make it often as a way to bulk up meals for Marco but also because I really do enjoy it. It is hard to get tired of because you can top it with anything from classic tomato sauces (hello Slow Simmered Cherry Tomato Sauce) to beans, squash, meats, and greens. I tested a handful of different options this week and they were all delicious in their own way. The first was lemony swiss chard with white beans, then roasted butternut squash with onions and bacon, and the last was sausage, fennel, and kale. Marco was into the lemony swiss chard and I was into the butternut squash but as soon as we tried the sausage and fennel, we knew it was the winner. Before we break down today’s recipe, Sausage, Fennel & Kale Polenta, let’s talk about polenta.
Cornmeal, Grits, & Polenta
This is something I call “same, same but different.” All three are made of ground corn but are all unique. Cornmeal is ground corn, obviously. It can be ground fine, medium, or coarse, although the most common cornmeal at American grocery stores will be finely ground. Cornmeal can be made of any type of corn like yellow, white, and blue corn but yellow is the most common followed by white. Fine cornmeal is often used in baking, to dust surfaces to prevent food items from sticking, and in batters for fried items. Cornmeal is great.
Grits is a southern dish made of medium or coarse ground corn. Any type of corn can be used but grits are usually made of white soft dent corn. Grits are also often made with hominy which is corn treated with lime to remove the hull. Soft dent corn is what creates the ultra-smooth and creamy consistency of grits.
Polenta originates from Italy and is made of firmer flint corn that is coarsely ground. Flint corn has a hard starchy center which leaves a granular texture when fully cooked. Polenta can be served creamy like grits or cooled and sliced into a firm corn “patty.” Polenta is typically made with yellow corn which gives it its signature golden color.
So while all three are very similar they are all a little bit different. Shopping for polenta can get kind of confusing. Cornmeal is usually found in the baking aisle as a finely ground almost powder-like product and this is not what we want for this dish. Polenta and grits will usually be with the grains next to rice or oats. Some companies, like Bob’s Red Mill, are labeling their product as “grits also known as polenta” because they are very similar. This even has me a little confused as to whether we are truly making polenta 🤔. Anyways, Bob’s Red Mill is one of the most common at the grocery store and works great for this recipe. If you spot another brand specifically labeled “polenta,” bring it home and try it out!
How to Cook Polenta
All you need to cook polenta is water but to make it more flavorful, you can use broth or stock in place of water and of course season with salt. The ground corn will simmer for about 30 minutes and hydrate into a silky smooth corn porridge. My favorite way to cook polenta, so it is extra creamy, is with part water and part milk. The typical ratio is 1 cup polenta to 4 cups liquid. This will give you a slightly firmer consistency. I add an extra cup of liquid (1c polenta to 5c liquid) to ensure a silky smooth consistency.
Start by bringing water, milk, and salt to a boil. Add the polenta in a slow stream while you whisk the grains into the water/milk. This prevents them from sticking together and forming one big clump. Reduce the heat to low *this is important* and continue to whisk for 3 minutes until it has thickened. You’ll be able to see it start to thicken right around 3 minutes. Then cover and cook for 30 minutes removing the lid every 5 minutes and giving it a stir. Use your spoon or rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom well!
This process is pretty hands-off and easy to troubleshoot. If your polenta looks very thick, add a splash of more water. If it looks super thin, leave it uncovered for a few minutes to allow some moisture to evaporate. The grains feel too firm between your teeth when you try a bite, keep cooking! The only way you can really mess up a pot of polenta is by having too high of heat and it sticking and burning on the bottom of the pot. As long as we turn the heat down to low, we will all have perfect pots of polenta!
At the end, I add a bit of butter, pepper, and sometimes cheese. These are all optional and ways to add more flavor.
Sausage, Fennel & Kale
While our polenta cooks, we can make the good stuff to go on top. Italian sausage (casing removed) gets browned in a pan. Then sliced fennel and onions get cooked until they are soft and slightly caramelized. Lastly, chopped kale leaves are added and cooked until soft. This is the best part…the dish is finished with pepperoncini and a bit of their brine for acidity. This dish gets most of its flavor from the Italian sausage, fennel, and onions and we are going to season it simply with salt and pepper but it is important to add the pepperoncini brine. This makes the dish bright and zippy.
For my vegetarians, you can make this dish by sauteing the fennel and onions until caramelized. Add the kale and cook until soft. Then add some cooked beans! You’ll need some seasoning so make sure to add in some fennel seeds, chili flakes, onion powder, maybe dried oregano?
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Sausage, Fennel, & Kale Polenta
1 cup Polenta
3 cups Water
2 cups Milk
2 Tablespoons Butter
Optional parmesan
1lb Italian sausage
1 Yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 Fennel bulb, core removed and thinly sliced
1 bunch Kale, ribs removed and leaves roughly chopped
¼ cup Sliced pepperoncini
2T Pepperoncini brine
Bring water, milk, and a generous pinch of salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Once boiling, slowly pour the polenta into the pot while whisking to prevent lumps. Reduce to a low simmer and continue with constant whisking until it starts to look like a wet porridge, about 3 minutes. Cover and cook for about 30-35 minutes.
Switch over to a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Every 5 minutes remove the lid and stir. Make sure to go around all the sides and bottom to prevent sticking.
While the polenta cooks, crumble sausage into an even layer in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Cook undisturbed until the sausage is deep brown on one side. Then flip and use a spatula to break sausage into small pieces and finish cooking.
Remove the cooked sausage and hold it on a plate. If you have an excessive amount of fat, drain some from the pan and leave about 2T behind.
Reduce the heat to medium and add sliced onions, fennel, and a splash of H2O while scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook them until they are soft and just start to caramelize, about 6-8 minutes.
Add chopped kale leaves and another small splash of H2O. Cover and let the kale steam for 2 minutes. Remove the lid and continue cooking, stirring, until all the kale leaves are soft and the excess liquid has evaporated.
Remove from the heat and stir in ¼ cup of sliced pepperoncini and 2T of brine. Add cooked sausage to the vegetables, toss, and season with salt and pepper. Hold until polenta is done cooking.
At 30 minutes, check the polenta for doneness. Take a bite and see if the grains are soft. If they still have a bite, they need some more time. When soft, remove from heat and stir in butter. Season with salt and pepper and a big handful of grated parmesan (optional).
Spoon polenta onto plates, top with sausage and kale mixture, and finish with more grated parmesan.
Some days when I don’t know what to make for dinner I start with a pot of polenta. I get it going and top it with whatever odds and ends I find in the fridge. Polenta is a save the day dish that I hope you guys start eating too!
If you want more details on the lemony swiss chard and beans or the butternut squash that I tested for polenta week, leave a comment and I’ll share the loose recipe for them!
Talk to you next week, M
This will be on repeat the rest of the fall--absolutely phenomenal
I’m in 💖🙏