Polenta Lasagna
Polenta Lasagna - ditch the noodles for slices of polenta! Seriously delicious! Italian Sausage, Marinara sauce, polenta, cottage cheese, egg, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Can assemble the casserole ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze for later. Everyone LOVED this easy weeknight casserole recipe!
Here is a twist on one of my all-time favorite meals! I absolutely love lasagna. My love for lasagna rivals Garfield. Just ask Chicken Legs. My plate is practically clean before he even takes a bite of his lasagna. I just love it. I had picked up a roll of polenta at Trader Joe's and decided to shake up my usual lasagna and use sliced polenta instead of noodles. This was my first time making lasagna with polenta but it won't be my last time. This was DELICIOUS!! I loved that I didn't have to boil any noodles!! Just assemble the dish and pop it in the oven.
I used cottage cheese in the lasagna. If you don't like cottage cheese, you can swap it out for ricotta. Either way, make sure to drain the cheese a little before using. You don't want the lasagna to be too runny.
I used a jar of Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Marinara. I like the marinara version, not the spaghetti sauce version. There is a big difference. If you don't have a Trader Joe's around, my other favorite jarred sauces are La Famiglia Del Grosso and Rao's. Of course, you can always make your own red sauce. I just used jarred sauce for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
You can assemble this casserole ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze for later. This is also an easy recipe to double for a crowd.
Yield: 6
Polenta Lasagna
prep time: 10 MINScook time: 45 MINStotal time: 55 mins
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 lb Italian sausage or ground beef
- 1 (26-oz) jar marinara sauce
- 1 (16-oz) container cottage cheese, drained
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1 (16-oz) tube prepared polenta, cut into 18 slices
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan (fresh or green can)
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a skillet, cook Italian sausage or ground beef until no longer pink. Drain fat. Remove from heat and stir in marinara sauce. Set aside.
- Combine cottage cheese, egg and parsley. Set aside.
- Pour 1/2 cup sauce into bottom of prepared pan. Top sauce with half of polenta slices. Top polenta with half of cottage cheese mixture. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese on top of cottage cheese mixture. Spread half of sauce on top of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers.
- Top casserole with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Read more..