A mouthful...

Okay, here's the first recipe of my blog! The reason I gave it the title, "A mouthful..." is because it was a nice biteful of deliciousness (and it has a really loooong name)!

I like to call it, "Free Form Polenta Lasagna with Homemade Marinara and Fresh Basil." Oh yeah, Baby!

Here goes...

Marinara Directions:

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 small onions, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp ground cayenne

1/2 tsp fennel seed

2 tsp sugar

2 T red cooking wine

1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 (32-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes in puree

2 dried bay leaves

In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high heat. In a food processor, pulse together the onion and garlic cloves (peeled!) until finely chopped. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the celery and carrots in the food processor. Add the finely chopped celery, carrots and the salt, black pepper, ground cayenne and fennel seed to the sauteed onions and garlic. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, remove the whole tomatoes from the can and pulse in the food processor until the desired size. Add the processed tomatoes, the puree that they came in, the bay leaves, sugar, red cooking wine and red wine vinegar into the pot. Simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper to taste. If they sauce is to chunky for you, just cool the sauce for a little bit and process some or all of it in the food processor until desired consistency.

Polenta Directions:

Buy a roll of polenta. (Or in the South we call it, "Mush!")

Slice roll into desired thickness. About 1/4" slices.

1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/4 c Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Oil to fry with

Combine all ingredients (except polenta) on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Dust polenta slices with the mixture trying to make sure to completely cover the polenta.

Heat a large nonstick skillet with oil coating the bottom of the pan. Fry dusted polenta 2-4 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. (I then placed them in the oven on 200 degrees on a cookie sheet to keep them warm while frying the rest of the polenta.)

Cheese mixture:

2/3 c ricotta cheese (or dry cottage cheese)

1/2 c shredded Italian Blend Cheese

In a small bowl, combine cheeses until well blended.

Putting it all together:

Place fried polenta slices on a broiler pan (I cover the pan with foil to help with the clean up). Place 1 T of cheese mixture on each slice of polenta. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbling. Place desired serving on a plate. I preferred 2 slices of polenta. Spoon your fabulous homemade marinara sauce over the polenta (sprinkle a little extra shredded Italian Blend Cheese on top - because HEY who doesn't like a little extra cheese?!) and top with fresh basil sprigs. Enjoy!

FYI - This recipe is NOT gluten-free.