Chicken Ricotta Meatballs over Pan Fried Polenta and Mushroom Ragu

Thanks to Cooking Light, and Elly My dinner tonight was the bomb! I subscribe to CL and I always can find something, usually a bunch of things that I want to make. I usually forget though, but I didn't tonight. Tonight I remembered a meatball recipe in this month's issue that looked to die for. I didn't have any ground turkey so I used the ground chicken I had on hand instead. I can see these going into my regular rotation, they were that good.

Not wanting to make just the meatballs by themselves I ask the advice of my Nesties. Elly had commented on making a chunky tomato sauce to go with them, and I remembered a fabulous recipe she had on her blog. It was the mushroom ragu and pan fried polenta. I had found my pairing for the meatballs. : ) I did make a few slight modifications to the CL recipe, as well as Elly's due to what I had on hand.

I have enough left over for about 4 more lunches too, which is a huge bonus while I'm on this weight loss kick.

The meatballs were 5 points per serving (4 meatballs), the ragu was one point per serving (about 1/4-1/2 cup), and the polenta was 3 points per serving (2 slices). You can make the polenta healthier without the pan frying, but I just wanted the crispiness tonight.

Chicken-Ricotta Meatballs

(Inspired by Cooking Light)

I got 23 meatballs out of this

Preheat oven to 375

1 Lb. ground chicken

1/2 cup panko

1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1/4 cup eggbeaters or one egg

1/4 cup fresh basil chopped

salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and shape into balls. Put foil on a cookie sheet and a cooling rack on top of that. Put meatballs on top of cooling rack and cook for about 20-25 minutes.

Pan Fried Polenta and Mushroom Ragu

For the Polenta

1 Tbs. light butter

1 cup corn meal (I used white)

1 cup low fat milk

3 cups water

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tsp. oregano

2 cloves garlic

flour for dredging

2 Tbs. olive oil

Heat butter in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and oregano and cook until fragrant. Add liquids and bring to a boil. Whisk in corn meal in a steady stream and continue to whisk until incorporated. Lower heat and continue to whisk for about 5 minutes.

Pour into a 9x13 pan and cool a few hours or overnight. Cut into squares, dust with flour. Heat oil into a medium sized pan and brown on both sides.

Mushroom Ragu

1 Tbs. light butter

2 tsp. olive oil

1/2 lb. crimini mushrooms sliced

1/4 cup diced onion

1 bay leaf

2 garlic cloves minced

2 1/2 Tbs. tomato paste

2 Tbs. fresh basil

1 Tsp. dried oregano

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup marsala wine

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil and butter in a med. sized sauce pan over medium heat. Saute onions for about 2 minutes. Add garlic, mushrooms, basil, oregano, and bay leaf and saute another minute. Lower heat and cook about 20 minutes until moisture from mushrooms has been released. Add tomato paste and cook about a minute. Add wine and cook about 3 minutes. Add broth and cook another couple of minutes. Serve over polenta and meatballs.

Broccoli and Cheese Polenta

I'm all about the side dishes lately. I get so sick of eating the same ones over and over, so I've been trying to come up with some unique, but healthy new one.

Tonight I needed a side to go with the Turkey with Provencal sauce above. I didn't want it to be to busy since the sauce going on the turky was pretty intense in flavor.

I decided to do a simple polenta. But I wanted to add some kind of vegetable, so I used the box of frozen chopped broccoli I had in the freezer.

This was simple, tasted wonderful, and was quick to prepare and best of all after putting the ingredients into the Sparkpeople Recipe Calculator, it looks as though (makes 6 servings) there is about 137 calories, and only 3.4 g of fat per serving.

Broccoli Cheese Polenta

1 cup corn meal

3 cups chicken broth (fat free, low sodium)

1 box frozen broccoli thawed (I thawed in the microwave)

1 tsp butter

2 tsp. olive oil

1/4 cup 2 % shredded mozzarella

2 Tbs. grated parmesan

salt and pepper

Heat a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Add chicken broth and let it come to a boil. In a steady stream, add the polenta whisking the entire time. Keep whisking until smooth. Let cook about 15 minutes and add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Cook about 5-8 minutes longer and serve.

Creamy Polenta with Fontina

Yum, Italian grits, lol! At least that is what I think of them. I have just started my love affair with polenta. Sure I have had it plenty before, but recently I have actually been craving it. It is really a versatile dish, there are hundreds of ways to dress it up. I am already planning a couple of new ways to prepare it. I added fontina cheese and parmesan to this batch, and it was fantastic. Next time I make polenta this way I will probably add more herbs. But since I was pairing it with my pork above, I decided to leave it simple and creamy.

Creamy Polenta with Fontina

1 1/2 cups corn meal

6 cups chicken stock/broth

1 cup heavy cream/half and half/milk

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

3 Tbs. unsalted butter

1 cup cubed fontina cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

In a large sauce pan bring chicken stock and cream to a boil. Pour polenta into the pot whisking as you go. Turn heat to low and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in butter and cheeses and cook about 5 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Polenta Sausage Mozzarella Lasagna/Casserole

Holy cow this was a comforting dish! When I saw this recipe here I immediately put it on our menu for this week. The picture said enough for me. But when I got to reading the ingredients, I was hooked, I just love fresh oregano. I actually made my own polenta instead of using the packaged stuff, but I'm sure that would have saved a lot of time. I had to wait quite a while for my polenta to set up. But it was worth it in the end. I was thrilled to use my favorite brand of sausage, Rinaldi. My sweet Papa brought me and my brother a case of it from MI when he came for a visit. (yay!)

I tweaked the recipe a bit so I wouldn't have to go to the grocery. Instead of using bell pepper I used a poblano and omitted the red chili flakes. I also added Parmesan cheese to the polenta, and used shredded mozzarella instead of the fresh. I would watch the polenta carefully when putting under the broiler, mine almost burnt but thankfully I caught it in time. This recipe can easily be adapted to your liking by adding, or omitting ingredients.

The best thing about this recipe is I'm going to have plenty left over to enjoy later. I may even freeze a couple slices to eat while Chad is out of town. : )

Polenta Sausage Mozzarella Lasagna/Casserole

(Simply Recipes)

5 1/2 Tbsp olive oil1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes

1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano ( I used 2)

1 med yellow onion, halved lengthwise then cut into wedges (I diced)

1 medium bell pepper (red, green, orange or yellow), cut lengthwise into thin slices (I used poblano and diced)

2 cloves garlic, minced (used 3)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes (omitted)

1 pound Italian sausage (removed from casings), sweet or spicy

2 pounds of prepared polenta cut 1/2-inch slices if using prepared polenta in a tube ( I made my own using the package directions and adding parmesan. I used 1 1/2 cup and 7 cups chicken stock and 4 Tbs. butter)

1/2 pound (8 ounces) fresh mozzarella sliced in 1/4 inch slices (I used shredded + more parm.)

1 Preheat oven broiler on high. Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a 2-3 qt saucepan on medium heat. Add tomatoes and oregano, simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes

2 While the tomatoes are cooking, in a large frying pan, heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Cover the pan, lower the heat to medium, and cook until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, stirring and breaking it into small pieces as it cooks, about 5 minutes. Cover the pan and cook until vegetables are tender and the sausage is cooked through, about 5-8 more minutes. Add the tomato sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.

3 While the sauce is cooking, coat the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan with a 1 Tbsp oil. Add the cooked polenta (or slices) to the pan. Coat the top of the polenta with the remaining 1/2 Tbsp oil. Broil the polenta about 4 inches from the heating element until golden brown and crispy, about 10-15 minutes.

4 Pour sauce over broiled polenta, then arrange Mozzarella slices over the top and return the casserole to the broiler. Broil until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.
Makes 6 servings.