Monday, May 18, 2009

OK this was soooooo Yummy!
I was a little reluctant with it ... but yum!!
:)

Sausage and Polenta with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Start to Finish: 30 min. Oven: 400 F

1/2 of a 16 ounce tube refrigerated cooked polenta (I made mine yesterday... used this recipe so it would be ready to bake today.)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 uncooked sweet Italian sausage links (about 1 pound total), each cut into 4 pieces (I used polish... its what I had)
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons snipped dried tomatoes (I used mine that I dried last year)
1 8 ounce package mixed salad greens
1/4 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds, toasted (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400F Cut polenta into 1/4 inch slices, cut each slice in half. Brush polenta with oil. Arrange in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake about 15 minutes or until light brown, turning once. (you could totally cheat and just make corn muffin pancakes... if you didn't want to make polenta, or cant find it ready done, not the same... but similar)

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat for 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove sausage from skillet. Drain off fat; wipe skillet with paper towels.

3. Return sausage to skillet; add apple juice, vinegar and dried tomatoes. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 8 - 10 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink.

4. To serve, divide salad greens among four plates. Arrange polenta slices and sausage pieces next to greens. Drizzle balsamic mixture over all. If desired, sprinkle with nuts.

Makes 4 servings (so I doubled mine... we ate everything but the sausage... which will re-heat into something else. :)

Recipe from Better home and gardens special interest publications: Quick and Easy Recipes (reprint)