Italian Polenta Casserole

Cheesy polenta layered with thinly sliced zucchini and marinara sauce makes a delicious side dish to steak, pork chops, or chicken!

Step: 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish.

Step: 2

Combine cherry tomatoes, basil, garlic, red wine, and 1/8 teaspoon salt for marinara in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to puree. Set aside.

Step: 3

Bring water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in polenta slowly, whisking constantly to ensure there are no lumps. Bring back to a boil; reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Pecorino Romano cheese and butter.

Step: 4

Pour half of the polenta into the prepared casserole dish. Top with half of the sliced zucchini, overlapping slices slightly. Top zucchini with half of the marinara sauce, then sprinkle with half of the Italian-style cheese. Repeat layers one more time. Cover.

Step: 5

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until cheese on top is slightly brown, about 10 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Per Serving: 318 calories; protein 16.7g; carbohydrates 21.3g; fat 18.8g; cholesterol 54.7mg; sodium 1035.9mg.

The most obvious way to choose a side dish is to look at your main dish (pasta, chicken, seared tofu) and choose something different. If you’re cooking pasta, make sure for a simple vegetable . Making steak? Go for more light. If you’re making stir-fry with rice, it must not a good idea to also make a rice salad.

This also can make to cooking process . You don’t want to push more often your oven by scheduling three dishes at once in there, or be rounding four pans on the cooking items . But sometimes you can make a dish do more often .