Easy Italian Polenta Casserole - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/2 lb Italian sausage, browned and drained (spicy)
2 cups Fontina cheese, grated
18 ounces polenta, prepared
28 ounces tomatoes (San Marzano) or 28 ounces any good quality canned tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup broth, vegetable
1 onion, medium, chopped fine
1/3 cup carrot, chopped fine
1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
3 teaspoons garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, and chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper

Preparation

Sausage and Vegetables -- In a large saute pan, add the sausage and brown until cooked through. I like to use bulk sausage but you can used links and just remove the casing. Just brown and then move to a plate with a paper towel on it to drain. In the pan dripping from the sausage, saute all the vegetables and garlic. If necessary you can add a little extra olive oil, but you shouldn't need to. Once the vegetables are tender, but not overdone -- add the tomatoes, breaking them up as you add them, tomato paste and vegetable broth. Add the herbs and any salt and pepper needed. Add the sausage back in and let simmer 5-10 minutes.
Polenta -- Slice the polenta in thin slices. Most grocery stores carried the prepared polenta in tubes which is a great time saver. They have plain, herb, cheese many flavors. I love to use parmesan for this but it is not necessary. There are enough other flavors in this dish. You will need around 18 slices for this dish. Now in a small square casserole dish 9x9x2 or you can use something similar in size, build the casserole.
Combine -- Add some of your meat and vegetable sauce, then add the layers of the polenta, you can over lap them, then the cheese. Another layer of the sauce, the polenta rounds and cheese. Finish with sauce and cheese.
Bake -- I like to let it set at room temp until the polenta soaks up some of the sauce about 1 hour, then bake covered at 350 for about 30 minutes until bubbly and the cheese is melted.