Crispy Polenta with Kale & Sausages

This is a three part recipe, and each part requires a different level of commitment.
The sausages are the easiest of the group, throw em in the pan, and you couldn’t screw it up if you tried.
The kale- a two step process, and the polenta, the most complicated of all, but still shockingly easy!!
I’ll be honest, I don’t love polenta, except like this. Crunch crunch crunch. Oil. Cheese. Do I need to sell it more?


- 2 Cups medium coarse or coarse ground cornmeal
- 6 Cups water
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tsp salt
- A handful of parmesan cheese, grated
- A Giant bunch of kale
- A full head of garlic, cloves separated, smashed with a knife, and roughly chopped
- A giant glug of good quality extra virgin olive oil
- Whatever sausages you like! I used chicken apple, and an Italian style with mozzarella.
- Preheat the oven to 350f, and set a rack on the middle level.
- Grease a heavy 12 inch dutch oven, add the cornmeal, water, olive oil, salt, and stir with a form or whisk until blended. The mixture will separate, but don't worry this is normal.
- Bake uncovered for 1 hour and 20 mins. Stir the polenta with a long-pronged fork, adjust the seasonings, and bake 10 mins more. Remove from the oven and let cool completely (note you can actually do this even a full day in advance.)
- When you are ready to eat, preheat the oven to 350, slice the polenta into 1 inch slices, and lay out on a non-stick cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle grated parmesan on top of everything.
- Bake the tray of polenta slices for 10 mins, before turning the oven to broil for 5 minutes until crispy and browned on the outside.
- Separate the stems out (compost them or something), and chop the leaves of the kale.
- Steam the kale in a covered pot with a few inches of water for 5 minutes.
- Drain, wipe out the pot, and put a giant glug of oil and garlic in the pot. Saute until aromatic, throw in the kale with a large pinch of salt, and saute for another few minutes in the oil and garlic.
- Slit them a few times, throw them into the pan, and fry until golden.
- Only the first part of the polenta is based on the cookbook sited above.