Italian Shepherd'S Pie 2 - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 large red pepper, seeded, cored and diced
1 large green pepper, seeded, cored and diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chopped tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons instant polenta
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups instant polenta
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

Preparation

For meat filling, heat a large frying pan to medium-high heat. Add beef and pork and cook 5 minutes. Drain any excess fat off and return to pan. Add fennel seed, peppers, onion and garlic. Reduce heat to medium and cook 5 minutes more. Add 1/2 tsp salt, black pepper, and tomatoes.
Remove skillet from heat and stir in 2 Tbsp polenta.
For Polenta, bring 4 cups of water and 1 1/2 tsp salt to a boil in medium saucepan. Add polenta in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and cook, still stirring, 3 minutes until polenta is medium-soft. Remove from heat and stir in 1/3 cup grated Parmesan.
Heat oven to 350\u00b0F Grease a 2 quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Add meat filling to bottom of dish. Top with polenta and sprinkle remaining Parmesan over the top.
At this stage the pie can be frozen (but bring to room temp first). Wrap well and put in freezer. When ready to cook, thaw in fridge overnight, then bake in preheated 350\u00b0F oven 25 minutes, and put under broiler 1 to 2 minutes to give a nice crisp crust.
If serving that evening, bake in preheated oven 25 minutes, and broil under preheated broiler 1 to 2 minutes.