Polenta Crusted Bacon Goat Cheese Arrotondares Con Ragu Recipes

Steps:

• Ragu Recipe Contest Entry.
• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Butter the bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan. Also fold a piece of foil around the bottom of the pan to catch any leaks as the dish cooks in the oven.
• In a large pot, bring water and salt to a boil over high heat. Once water is boiling, slowly whisk in corn grits.
• Reduce heat to simmer and stir frequently, to keep corn grits from sticking to the pot, until mixture is very thick.
• Stir the butter into the cooked polenta. Set pan aside, but cover the surface of the polenta with a piece of plastic wrap to keep the polenta from forming a skin on the top.
• In a large skillet, break up the Italian sausage and cook until it is browned and cooked through.
• Add the jar of Ragu to the sausage, stir to combine and cook just until it is heated through. Remove from heat and set pan aside.
• Pour half of the polenta into the springform pan and spread it evenly in the pan.
• Slice the log of goat cheese into equally thick slices (about 20) and arrange half of the goat cheese evenly over the top of the polenta.
• Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese over the goat cheese and polenta.
• Spread the arugula evenly over top of the cheese.
• Pour half of the sausage and Ragu mixture over top of the arugula and spread it evenly across the whole pan.
• Pour remaining polenta over top of the meat sauce and spread evenly in the pan.
• Spoon the rest of the sausage and Ragu mixture on top of the layer of polenta and spread it into an even layer.
• Arrange the remaining goat cheese evenly on top of the meat sauce.
• Sprinkle the 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese evenly over top of the pasticciata.
• Place the foil lined springform pan onto a baking sheet and slide into the oven to bake for 45 minutes.
• Remove from oven when cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
• Let the pasticciata rest for 20 minutes before removing the outer ring and serving. This will allow it to cool a bit and will stay together once the outer ring has been removed.

Steps:

• Place a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the bacon, and cook until crisp and golden, about 8 minutes. Remove bacon from saucepan; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Set aside.
• Add chopped sage to saucepan, and cook in the bacon fat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add milk, and bring to a boil.
• Add the polenta in a steady stream, whisking constantly until it is smooth and creamy, about 6 minutes. Whisk in the butter, and season with the salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl, and crumble the reserved bacon on top. Heat the olive oil, in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add the whole sage leaves, and fry until crisp, about 30 seconds. Remove from the skillet, and scatter over the polenta.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine bacon, goat cheese, romano cheese and 2 tablespoons of chopped arugula. Use heaping tablespoons to form 8 cheese balls. (Note: if the cheese is too soft to roll, refrigerate about 15 minutes until firm).
• Use 3 small bowls - In the first bowl put the ¼ cup flour. In the second bowl add egg and beat well. In the third bowl combine polenta and breadcrumbs. Coat each ball with flour, then egg then polenta/breadcrumb mixture and place on a plate. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• In a medium pot, heat oil to 375 degrees. Fry 4 balls at a time 1-2 minutes until light golden brown, remove and drain on paper towels.
• In a small sauce pan, heat Ragu sauce with remaining chopped arugula (reserving about a teaspoon of arugula for garnish). Bring to a simmer and remove from heat.
• Spoon sauce onto deep dish platter, top with cheese balls, sprinkle with remaining romano cheese and remaining arugula. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Place water and milk in a large pot on high, cook till boiling.
• When boiling add the salt and polenta and whisk for five minutes.
• Lower heat and simmer covered for 45 minutes, whisking occasionally.
• When polenta has finished cooking, pour onto a cutting board to cool. When it is cooled, cut into rectangles. Add olive oil to a frying pan and crisp the polenta on both sides. You will need to let it cook for about five minutes on each side. When finished cooking on both sides remove from the hear and plate the polenta.
• Cook bacon in a sauce pan, when finish remove from pan and shop into fine pieces.
• Add garbanzo beans to the saucepan and cook in the bacon drippings for two minutes.
• Add jar of Ragu Spicy Italian Sauce and bring to a simmer.
• In a frying pan heat olive oil on low heat.
• After two minutes add the shrimp and season with salt and curry powder.
• Cook the shrimp for a several minutes on each side, till it turns pink.
• Finish the dish by pouring sauce over the fried polenta and topping with the cooked shrimp.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
• Grease a large baking sheet. On the baking sheet, flatten out dough ball starting from the center, taking care not to flatten the edges. Make the center of the crust as thin as possible. Crust will be 12-14 inches in diameter.
• In a small bowl, combine Ragu sauce, arugula, oregano, and cilantro. Mix well.
• Ladle sauce mixture onto the dough, and spread evenly. Top with mozzarella and provolone. Evenly spread grapes, rosemary, goat cheese, and pine nuts.
• Bake for 11-14 minutes, until crust and cheese begin to brown, but not burn. Let cool for 2 minutes, then slice and serve.

Steps:

• Bring goat cheese to room temperature. Using your hands, roll forty-eight 1/2-inch balls, and place them on a piece of parchment paper. Shake the nuts in a fine mesh sieve to remove dust, then place in a small shallow bowl. roll each cheese ball in the nuts to coat evenly.
• To serve, arrange the spinach leave on a serving tray, and place each cheese ball on a leaf.

Steps:

• First make the polenta. Bring the chicken stock to a boil, add the salt and gently whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the cornmeal thickens, stirring frequently, about 15-20 minutes. (Note: The exact ratio of stock to cornmeal you will need will vary depending on the coarseness of the cornmeal.
• If you are worried, start with 3 cups of stock and keep the other cup hot in a small saucepan and add until you have the consistency you desire.) Remove from the heat and add the butter, stir well until melted. Lightly oil a baking dish and transfer the hot polenta to the baking dish. Spread evenly, the polenta should be 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Refrigerate uncovered until firm, about 2 hours.
• When the polenta is firm transfer it to a cutting board. Slice the polenta into the desired sizes. I like to use a round pastry cutter to create round slices of polenta, which looks nice but inevitably leads to waste - or what I like to call chef's treats. Cutting triangles would probably be just as visually appealing and less wasteful.
• Slice the onion and peppers thin and then saute over medium heat in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, about 25 minutes. The peppers and onions should be soft and caramelized.
• While the onions and peppers are cooking, slice the sausage links into 1 inch pieces and cook over medium-high heat, until well browned on all sides. When the sausage is almost completely cooked through, transfer it to the pan with the peppers and onions, including most of the sausage fat that has rendered in the pan (try to reserve about a tablespoon in the pan), toss well and reduce the heat to keep warm while frying the polenta slices.
• In the saute pan that the sausage was cooked in, fry the polenta slices on medium-high heat until lightly golden and crispy, about 4-5 minutes per side. If there isn't enough sausage fat to fry all of the slices use olive oil to finish frying.
• Serve the sausage and peppers over the polenta slices.

Steps:

• Cut bacon into ¼ inch cubes add to a deep medium non-stick pan sauté on medium high heat until bacon is crispy. Remove bacon place on paper towel to drain excess fat.
• Discard bacon fat from pan reserving 1 tablespoon add shrimp and cilantro to bacon fat and sauté on medium high until shrimp turn pink remove shrimp and set aside to the same pan add Raju sauce stir to pick up the flavors of bacon fat and cilantro reduce heat to medium cover and let it warm up.
• While sauce is warming up in a medium pan over high heat, bring water and salt to a boil, and gradually stir in polenta. Reduce heat and simmer gently, stirring frequently to prevent sticking until mixture thicken and is creamy add butter and cheese mix until well incorporated.
• To serve add ½ cup sauce to 5 bowls top each with equal amount of polenta, 3 shrimp each and sprinkle with equal amount of cooked bacon you may garnish with additional cilantro serve immediately.