Thursday, June 16

Chicken and Sausage Stew with Polenta

My Biz Noni was the first person who inspired me to cook. I remember standing on a chair in her kitchen adding ingredients she had chopped up for me to put in a pot of soup (which was really just a pot). She hosted Sunday family dinners at her house for many years, polenta and chicken stew was one of her favorite dishes to prepare. Being she was my inspiration for cooking, I've chosen the following recipe as my official first recipe blog entry. 

Please enjoy this Italian classic, from my kitchen to yours!

 
Chicken and Sausage Stew with Polenta
Serves 4-6

2 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves fresh garlic (chopped)
½ medium red onion (chopped)
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried basil
1 pound of chicken (diced)
3 Italian sausage links (cut into round slices)
1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can Italian stewed tomatoes
2 large handfuls of spinach
1 zucchini (diced)
Optional: 10 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat
Add Garlic, cook 1 minute
Add Onion, parsley, and basil
Add Chicken and Sausage and continuously turn until browned (about 7-10 minutes)
Add canned tomatoes
Simmer uncovered for 40 minutes
10 minutes before serving: Add Spinach and Zucchini

Homemade Cheesy Polenta:
If you’ve never made polenta before, make sure you have a good wooden spoon and about 20 minutes to continuously stir. The creamiest polenta is constantly stirred while cooking.

I prefer the Bobs Red Mill Polenta, I follow the recipe on the package, with a slight tweak.
-- When the polenta starts to thicken (based on the packaging instructions), add about 1 cup of parmesean cheese and stir until thick and sticky.
-- Once your polenta is thickened, place it into a glass pyrex, and cover. Let set for 20 minutes before serving. This will give you nice squares of polenta that you can serve your stew over the top of.

Semi-Homemade Option:
For those of you not interested in making your own polenta, Trader Joe’s has a great one that’s prepackaged in the pasta section -- You can cut up the little round disks, place them on a plate and put the sauce right on top.

When serving, we love adding a nice soft piece of fontina cheese between the polenta and hot stew, it melts and becomes velvety and delicious.

5 comments:

  1. Is this the same one you made for me after I had Simon? It was so yummy! Glad I have the recipe now!

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  2. Yes, Katherine ... it's my go-to "new mama" meal. =) Although, I omitted the sausage when I made yours. ;-)

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  3. I made this tonight - I didn't have zucchini, left out the chicken (my husband doesn't like chicken :P) and used organic polenta from Costco. It was delicious! I'm keeping this recipe to add to my 'recipe rotation' (once I actually create one ;) )

    Thanks Jen! (I just noticed today that you only have one 'n' in your name. If I have mistakenly typed it with two 'n's, I apologize!

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  4. I'll have to try the stew. It looks good! I've never made it with chicken before.

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  5. Got this one when I had Zoe and it was super yummy. I'm excited to make it again, once I'm in my NEW kitchen!

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