Polenta with Sausage and Collards

If you sat down to a plate of this at dinner, and we didn't mention that the recipe was Tuscan, you might very well think you were eating a Southern dish.  We aren't trying to pull a fast one, it just turns out that there's quite a bit of shared DNA in the two cuisines.  We came upon this phenomenon unexpectedly, but are thrilled at the thought of unraveling it deliberately.  The thought that there exists a homegrown cuisine as illustrious as Tuscany's right here on American soil could blow a Yankee's culinary worldview wide open.  How did we miss this?

With a little digging, we came across an interview with Frances Mayes, a Southerner living part-time in Tuscany and well-known author of Under the Tuscan Sun.  She likens the rural cultures to one another for their shared sense of community and relaxed pace of life and professes that Southern cuisine is indeed the most developed of America's regional cooking.  In a separate interview, she says the two cultures share a feeling "that you go to the land for your food" and that "everything happens at the table."  Being neither Southern, nor Tuscan, we can't authentically confirm the sentiments, but we do know that when we served polenta with greens at the shelter, a guest at the table took her first bite and shouted, "MMM-MMMMMMM!  Real Southern food!"  That's confirmation enough for us. 

The impetus for this dish was a Gourmet Magazine recipe for Polenta, Italian Sausage and Broccoli Rabe.  Broccoli rabe can be difficult to find and we routinely substitute chicken sausage for reasons of health and popularity, so those were our major areas of divergence.  Collards are readily available by the bunch at Stanley's or in pre-washed, pre-trimmed packages at Jewel or Dominick's, so we happily turned to those for our greens.  We love that the recipe calls for raisins to sweeten things up and expounded on that idea with a little balsamic vinegar.  We've learned from experience that you can almost never make things too sweet, but you'll certainly hear if you've made them too bitter.  Because we roast the sausages separately, we saute the greens  with pancetta (or bacon) to be sure we don't loose the flavor that imparts.  All that said, the spirit of the dish stays intact... be it Southern or Tuscan... and we hope that you and yours enjoy it.  

Oven-Baked Polenta

Serves 36

• 1 TBS olive oil 
• 6 cups whole-grain medium grind cornmeal or polenta, divided in thirds
• 6 TBS unsalted butter, divided in thirds
• 3 tsp sea salt, divided in thirds
• 3 tsp black pepper, divided in thirds
• 21 cups spring water, divided in thirds
• 3 vegetable boullion cubes (Rapunzel brand sea salt and herb are nice)
• 3 cups grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Arrange 3 half-size hotel pans in a row on your work surface.*  Using a basting brush, lightly grease the bottom and sides of each pan with olive oil.  Add 2 cups polenta, 2 TBS butter, 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 bouillon cube and seven cups water in each pan. 

Place each pan uncovered in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, stirring the ingredients at the half-way point to recombine.  Add 1 cup of parmesan cheese to each pan, mixing well to incorporate, and return polenta to oven for an additional 10-15 minutes.  Polenta is cooked when all water has been absorbed and cornmeal is smooth and fragrant. 

Remove the pans from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.  For soft polenta, serve immediately.  If you're planning to serve later, allow polenta to cool in the pans and refrigerate for 2+ hours to firm.  Slice polenta into squares and pay fry, grill or bake until warmed through before serving. 

*You can also use a single, full-size hotel pan for baking the polenta en masse, but depending on your oven, the cooking time may exceed the 60 minute goal we usually shoot for.  If you can get an early start, a single batch will save a few dishes and turn out just as well. 

Braised Collards

Serves 36 

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 8 oz proscuitto, serrano ham, or bacon, finely diced
• 8 lbs collard greens (net), washed, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces (about 12 bunches)*
• 8 lg garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 x 106 oz can Italian plum tomatoes, crushed by hand, and drained
• 2 cups raisins
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• sea salt and pepper to taste





Preheat the grill top to med-high heat.  Fill your largest stock pot to the halfway point with cold water and place pot over high heat to boil.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a full-size hotel pan, roll up your sleeves and crush the plum tomatoes into fourths by hand.  Add the raisins to the hotel pan, season with salt and pepper and place the pan in the oven to warm. 

If you're making the collards from fresh bunches, plan for 15-20 minutes extra prep time for the following steps if just one person is doing it.  If you can divide the work between two or more people, it won't take long.  Before washing, pull the collard leaves from their stems by making a loose fist and sliding your hand from the base of the bunch to the top.  This should pull the leaves free of the stems while leaving them fairly intact.  Working in bunches, lay the leaves down on a cutting board and slice the greens into 1" strips.  When all your greens have been trimmed and sliced, submerge them in pot of cool water for ten minutes to loosen any dirt or critters and then drain them in a colander.  If you're using pre-washed, pre-trimmed packages of greens, omit the above and go right to cooking. 

When water reaches a boil, transfer collards from the colander to the stock pot, and cook in boiling water for 10-15 minutes until tender.  Return collards to the colander and allow to drain.

While collards are boiling, add olive oil to grill top and heat until shimmery, but not so long that oil begins to smoke.  Add ham to cook top and saute until lightly browned.  When browned, add collards to the grill top. (Take a step back as wet greens may spatter when they hit the hot grill.)   Sauté collards until well wilted, about 10-15 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes more, stirring continually so garlic does not burn.  Raise grill heat to high, pour balsamic vinegar over greens and continue to saute until the strong smell of vinegar has dissipated, about 4-5 minutes. 

Transfer collards to the hotel pan with the tomatoes and the raisins, stirring gently to combine.  Taste for flavor and season again with salt and pepper if necessary.  Return to pan to the oven and cook for 10+ minutes until you are ready to serve.