Photos by Donna Currie

- Donna

Sausage and Polenta with Cole Slaw

When I first moved to Colorado, one of my great disappointments was that I couldn't find the same kind of Italian sausage that was common in Chicago. I looked for it all over. I even brought some back from Chicago the last time we went there to visit. The big surprise was when I bought some at Whole Foods and it was exactly what I was looking for.

My favorite way of preparing Italian sausage is with tomato sauce and bell peppers. From there, the rest of the ingredients can change a lot. Sometimes the sausage goes into a sandwich, and sometimes it gets paired with pasta. This time, I paired it with polenta. Instead of buying cornmeal specifically for polenta, I bought a coarse-ground cornmeal. I tried using that cornmeal for cornbread, but it was a little too coarse for my liking. It worked really well for polenta, though.

A rice cooker does a great job of cooking polenta -- no worries about the polenta sticking or burning; no need for a lot of stirring. You can walk away from it and pay attention to something else. If you don't have a rice cooker, you can certainly make this on the stove. Just stir more often. Also, a rice cooker cup is actually 3/4 cup, so if you're making it on the stove, keep that in mind.

Sausage and Polenta

Serves 4

Sausage and Peppers:

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 links sweet Italian sausage
1/2 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, finely diced
2 bell peppers, cored and cut into strips
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 14.5-ounce petite diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1 pinch hot pepper flakes

Rice Cooker Soft Polenta:

1 rice cooker cup of coarse ground cornmeal
4 rice cooker cups of water
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 ounce Parmigiano cheese, grated
2 ounces cream cheese

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

I decided that I needed a side dish to go with the sausage and polenta. Cole slaw sounded perfect -- the texture is a nice contrast. Personally, I think cole slaw is best when it's made the day before and has plenty of time to rest in the refrigerator. But if you don't have the time, it's still good after a shorter rest. 

This cole slow includes the usual cabbage, but it also has endive. Green endive is fine, but purple endive adds a bit of accent color. Meanwhile, scallions add a splash of darker green.

Cole Slaw

Serves 6

1 small head of cabbage, shredded
4 scallions, thinly sliced
3 small or 1 larger head of endive, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Like this post? See Donna's post from last week: Breakfast, Lunch, and...Dessert.

Donna is a Colorado food writer and the inventive blogger behind Cookistry. If she's not in the kitchen, she's likely shopping for intriguing new edibles.