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Polenta 'lasagna' cuts gluten, time

Traditional lasagna can take hours to make, what with making the sauce, cooking the meat and vegetables and boiling the pasta -- and that's just to get the ingredients ready to layer. Figure in assembly time and baking time and it can easily become an all-day affair.

This version substitutes packaged, cooked polenta for the noodles, cutting down on prep time and making it friendly for gluten-free diners.

But the best part is it can be on the table in less than an hour.

Because my husband is sensitive to cooked tomatoes (and allergic to raw ones), I use fire-roasted tomato pizza sauce, which gives the dish an intense tomato flavor without having to use a lot.

Sausage and Red Pepper Polenta "Lasagna"

1 pound mild, sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed if using links

1 (12-ounce) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained and finely chopped

1 small onion, very thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (18-ounce) tube cooked polenta, cut into 1/3-inch-thick rounds

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 (8-ounce) tub fresh mozzarella, drained and cut into small pieces

1/2 to 1 (14-ounce) jar fire-roasted pizza sauce such as Classico

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly coat a 7-by-11-inch baking dish with olive oil.

In a large skillet, brown sausage, breaking it up into crumbles. Drain well and set aside. In the same skillet, cook the peppers, onion and garlic until the onion is soft and translucent. Return sausage to skillet and mix well.

Layer half of the meat mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the polenta and half of the cheese. Top cheese with the remaining meat mixture, then the remaining polenta rounds. Spoon the tomato sauce over the polenta. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Makes 4 servings.

Recipe adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2014

Food on 02/03/2016

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