Polenta Sausage Mozzarella Casserole

My father found this recipe in a recent Sunset Magazine and it sounded so good he just had to try it. He even made the polenta from scratch instead of using the store-bought prepared version which the original recipe called for. (How cool is that?)

Polenta with an Italian sausage tomato sauce, topped with Mozzarella – of course it was great. You can substitute turkey sausage for the Italian sausage or even skip the sausage and use chopped zucchini instead for a vegetarian option. Here is our slightly-modified-from-the-original version.

Polenta Sausage Mozzarella Casserole Recipe

This recipe is for a "sweet" version of this casserole, meaning not spicy. For a picante version, use hot Italian sausage and use red pepper flakes instead of the fennel seeds.

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage (removed from casings)
• 2 pounds of prepared polenta, 1/2-inch slices if using prepared polenta in a tube (can use one recipe of creamy polenta, leave out the cream cheese)
• 1/2 pound (8 ounces) fresh mozzarella, sliced into 1/4-inch slices

Read More: Polenta Sausage Mozzarella Casserole