One of the challenges of cooking is being able to use leftovers. Not just the cooked leftovers but the “I only used 4 out of the 5 sausages that were in the package.” or the “I got just a little more cheese than I needed.” leftovers. It can sometimes be fun to sit down with a list of odds and ends that need to be finished and try to find a recipe that fits. I was looking for a recipe to use up some leftovers when I came across a recipe for polenta with sausage and rapini in Food and Drink magazine. I had a leftover sausage from yesterday and I had some gorgonzola cheese from last week that I though would go nicely in the polenta. The only thing that I would need was the rapini. That worked out well as I had been wanting to try rapini for a while. The dish was pretty tasty and two more items were cleaned out of my fridge making room for more. There was a little too much flavour for me to get a good feel for the rapini. I will have to use it again in a simpler dish.
Sausage and Rapini on Gorgonzola Polenta
ingredients
- 1 Italian sausage (casing removed)
- 1 serving rapini (cut into bit sized pieces)
- 1 clove garlic (chopped)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- 1/4 cup gorgonzola (crumbled)
directions
- Cook the sausage in a pan until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
- Add the rapini, garlic red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a sauce pan.
- Whisk in the cornmeal and cook until tender, about 10 minutes, stirring.
- Mix in the gorgonzola and let it melt.
Personally, I have a major problem with using leftovers! I always seem to end up throwing out lots of food (especially leftover veggies). I just like to makes something new and exciting everynight!
This looks great! I love polenta!
i am new to your blog. i love your approach to food. coincedentally, i also whipped up a leftover meal yesterday eerily close: i threw previously sauted brocolli, onion, garlic veggie side into pan with some chopped tomato. i mixed egg with leftover polenta and it in butter until crispy on both sides. top with warmed broccolli mixture. i, too, feel a great sense of accomplishment when i can whip up something fun from leftovers.
Great job with the leftovers! Love the polenta… I have not tried rapini… I’ll add it to the list.
Well done, being so resourceful!
Can I ask what rapini is though?
Rapini or Broccoli Rabe looks similar to broccoli except the the stalks are thinner and it is leafier. Here is the wikipedia article.
you are the master of leftovers! that looks yum…