Creamy Italian Polenta

This is my "last minute, can't think of anything else to make" dinner. I always have the ingredients on hand, it takes about ten minutes to whip together, and it's delicious!

It's a pretty inexpensive meal too. In fact, when I first mentioned to my 100% Italian grandma that I had started making polenta, she told me that back in her day, they used to call it poor man's food! :)

You can serve polenta with a variety of different foods. We usually have it with chicken sausage, fresh spinach leaves, and tomato sauce. If you're going for a vegetarian dinner, swap the chicken broth with vegetable broth (or just plain water works fine too), and stir half of a can of kidney beans (strained & rinsed) into the tomato sauce in lieu of sausage.

This recipe yields 2 servings.

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{Creamy Italian Polenta}

2 c. milk
1/2 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. parmesan cheese, grated
fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped
chicken sausage, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
tomato sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Heat tomato sauce and sausage together in a saucepan. Simmer on low heat. In a medium pot, bring milk just to a boil. Lower heat. Using a whisk, slowing stir in cornmeal until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. While allowing polenta to sit and thicken for a minute or two, stir fresh spinach leaves into tomato sauce. Spoon polenta into a bowl. Top with a spoonful of sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

{enjoy!}