Sausage and Polenta

I've been in a polenta mood lately. Now, the most frugal way to make polenta is to cook it from scratch. Most of the recipes I've found for soft polenta come with a lot of cream, butter, and cheese. And really, I kind of prefer the tube-polenta that is pan-fried in a little olive oil.

I did try to make it this way myself once. Cooked up from scratch, baked it in a pan to dry it out, and then fried. It was a mess. So now, when I want polenta, I pay $1.99 a tube at Trader Joe's.

I had a few chicken and gouda sausages in the freezer from my parent's visit earlier this year. We're not big meat eaters - I think that's the only meat in the freezer actually. (The rest of the sausage is going into today's bean crockpot soup). I thought it would be a perfect topping for polenta.

In my desire to "use it up", I decided to add cherry tomatoes. The CSA has had a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes this year. A few weeks ago, I heard mention of how some members are tired of them. Well, for a few months we've gotten a overflowing pint a week. I'm not a big fan of raw cherry tomatoes. Combine the high acidity with the feel of popping in your mouth (I don't like grapes either), and you get...yuck. So I slice them in half in salads or relishes. Or I cook 'em.

Today they made a lovely sauce.

Sausage and Polenta
4 chicken and gouda sausages, about 1 lb: ~$3.00 (don't really remember)
1/2 a large onion: 0.40
2 small purple bell peppers: 0.50
1 T. canola oil: 0.03
1 pint cherry tomatoes: 3.00
2 cloves garlic: 0.10
salt, pepper, basil, oregano to taste
1 tube polenta: 1.99
1 Tbsp olive oil: 0.11
3 Tbsp. parmesan cheese for topping: 0.37
Total: $9.50 for about 3 servings. $3.16 per serving.

Of course, this could be make more frugal by eliminating the meat and making your own polenta. You can use any kind of tomato (including canned). I am estimating the cost of the cherry tomatoes. Mine are local and organic and part of the CSA, so I don't really know the true cost.

Served with a big salad...