You say Polenta, I say lasagna

Tonight for dinner, we had the Polenta au Gratin that prepared on Sunday. Here's the rundown.

I got this recipe from Terry Walter's book, Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source. (Just like last night's recipe). You should all check this book out. It is a great resource, even if you're not interested in learning how to cook vegetarian recipes, as it provides recipes based on the produce that is in season.

Anyway, on to the polenta au gratin. I thought I took a picture of the ingredients, but I can't find it, so to the best of my recollection (as I cannot get up to look it up since C-Note is laying on me with a cough :( ) polenta, swiss chard, red onion, mozzarella cheese, prepared organic marinara sauce and extra virgin olive oil.

Polenta comes in a packaged tube, sort of like sausage. I found it in the produce aisle at Schnuck's. It is cornmeal that is mashed together.

Once I unwrapped it, I cut it into little disks like this:

Saute the polenta in a pan or dutch oven (I really want a dutch oven) in extra virgin olive oil for a few minutes, add about 1/4 cup of pasta sauce, and then mash together until it looks like this:

The recipe called for swiss chard, but I could only find rainbow chard. I was honestly impressed that Shnuck's had any kind of chard. Look at it! Isn't it neat looking?

Saute chopped red onion, garlic and extra virgin olive oil, then add chopped chard.

While that is cooking down, take 1/2 of the polenta and press it down into an 8x8 pan.
Layer with pasta sauce, chard mixture, and then another layer of the polenta. Then add one more layer of sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Bake at 350, covered in foil for 15 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake until the cheese becomes bubbly and you know the casserole is heated through.
Tah-dah!

The verdict: it was okay. I am not a huge fan of the chard. I think it would've been better with another type of green. I wanted to be adventurous, but this leafy vegetable tasted peppery or something. I mean, it was okay, but I would definitely try another green in this dish. All in all, it tasted like vegetarian lasagna. Billy had two helpings, so I guess he thought it was pretty good.

The polenta had a very interesting texture. I read that a lot of people use it as a substitute for pasta. I liked it and would like to use it different recipes. At Schnuck's, there were a few different flavors, such as basil and garlic polenta. I think next time I may try a flavored version.

Although tonight's meal was not an overwhelming success, I am feeling very adventurous giving all of these recipes a try. I hope some of you are inspired to bring some new, healthy items into the kitchen. You may be surprised just how tasty they are.