After Tony was successful making polenta, he searched online for other ways of serving polenta and found a breakfast casserole that we modified. We like having breakfast for dinner on occasion so it turned out to be a dinner casserole. The basic recipe is from the Chef Ann Foundation website, part of Chef Ann’s School Lunchbox: Tools for School Food Change.
The Foundations goal is to help schools serve children healthy whole foods made from scratch. Schools used to have cooks and cooking equipment, and they all served homemade meals to kids before the school lunch program funding was cut. The School Lunchbox is a related program that provides districts and their teams resources to provide healthy foods to kids. Some of their programs are Salad Bars in Schools, Breakfast in Schools, and grants to buy fruits and vegetables.
You can make the whole recipe in one shot, but we started it the night before and the directions below are for when you know you’ll get home and be rushed for time. This recipe turned out to not be super flavorful so we recommend adding some crushed garlic, chopped fresh parsley, paprika (of course), season salt – any of your favorite herbs or spices.
Polenta Casserole
1 C finely diced red onion
1 C potatoes, diced small
Sea salt and ground black pepper as desired
6-8 oz turkey sausage
3 cups water
1 C medium or coarse corn meal
6 large eggs
1 C grated parmesan cheese
2/3 C shredded cheddar cheese
Evening before:
Sauté onions in a small amount of coconut oil over medium-low heat for a few minutes until translucent. While the onions are cooking, steam the potatoes in a lidded pot with a small amount of water until they are tender.
Add steamed potatoes to the onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook the potato/onion mixture until the potatoes brown. Set aside.
Cook the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks. Cool. Refrigerate the onion/potato mixture and the sausage overnight.
When ready to cook:
Preheat oven to 350. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Whisk in the cornmeal and cook over low heat until thick and smooth (approximately 7 minutes).
Pour the prepared polenta into an ungreased casserole dish. It will begin to get firm as you prepare the eggs. Scramble the eggs over medium heat until slightly firm, but still wet, and season with salt and pepper. (The eggs will finish cooking in the oven.)
Spread the potato mixture, sausage, parmesan and cheddar cheese over the polenta. Pour the eggs on top of the entire dish. Bake 20 minutes.
