This is a show stopper dish! This would be a wonderful option for a dinner party or maybe a Sunday night, when you have a little extra time. Polenta is one of those dishes that seems like it takes a lot of work, but this recipe starts on the stove and finishes in the oven- no more stirring. Alternatively, I have a recipe that you can make in a crockpot. I think any saucy recipe, like the sausage here is delicious on the polenta, but greens or mushrooms are a great vegetarian option too.

Tips:

• Make sure you turn the flame off before add the wine to the pot. Once you’ve set your cabinets on fire, you’ll never make that mistake again.

• Make the sausage when you have time. It can cook for hours or you can make it a day ahead and just reheat it when the polenta is ready.

• This is a personal preference, but I like to remove the casing from the sausage and break the meat up, rather than leaving it whole. Either will work here.

• The cover photo shows one of the polenta boards I made years ago. It’s just sautéed greens (Swiss chard, spinach, escarole, broccoli rabe, etc.) and a beef ragú. I’ll post those recipes soon too.

• Here’s a recipe for polenta in a crock pot. I’ve done this for parties before. It’s works great.

Sausage and Polenta Board

Recipe is a hybrid from both NYT and Bon Appetit

Serves 4-6

PREP 30 minutes

COOK 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 cup polenta

4 oz. Parmesan, finely grated, plus more for serving

4½ cups water

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 ½ pounds Italian fennel sausage, sweet or hot, cut each link into thirds

1 bay leaf

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 basil sprig, plus more leaves for garnish

1 cup dry red wine

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes with their juices

Parsley, chopped, as garnish

Red-pepper flakes, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Start the topping. Add olive oil to a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until softened. Add sausages and let brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Add bay leaf, garlic and basil sprig, and cook for 1 minute more. Add wine, turn up heat, and let reduce by half.

3. Add crushed tomatoes and their juices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 1 hour, until sauce has thickened somewhat. Remove bay leaf . Taste and adjust with salt and red-pepper flakes.

4. Meanwhile, bring 4½ cups water to a simmer in a large ovenproof saucepan over medium-high heat. Add butter and a generous pinch of kosher salt and whisk to melt butter. Gradually add polenta, whisking constantly. (Gradually incorporating the polenta into the water is key to preventing clumps.) Return mixture to a boil, immediately cover pot, and transfer to lower rack in oven. Bake polenta, until tender, 25–30 minutes.

5. Once cooked, remove polenta from oven. Carefully uncover polenta and whisk vigorously, scraping bottom of pan, until polenta is smooth and thick. Gradually add 4 oz. Parmesan, whisking constantly until melted and incorporated; taste and season with more kosher salt and pepper. Keep polenta covered and warm over a low heat until sausage is ready.

6. To serve, rinse a large circular wooden board, about 18-inch diameter, with cool water. (Alternatively, use a large platter.) Pour polenta onto the board, and, using a spatula, quickly spread it into a circle about 3/4-inch deep.

7. Carefully ladle sauce over the polenta, leaving a 1-inch polenta border at the edges. Arrange sausages over the sauce. Sprinkle with basil, parsley and pecorino.