Mushroom and Sausage Polenta Bruschetta

Mushroom and Sausage Polenta Bruschetta - White button mushrooms, lightly spiced Italian sausage, crunchy pine nuts and fresh rosemary with a sprinkle of fresh Parmesan make for an absolutely amazing flavor combination atop polenta bruschetta. Serve as a main dish, or as an appetizer.

Prep: 9 min | Cook: 16 min

Yield: 4 main dish servings or 14 appetizer servings
Serving size: 7 slices (main) or 2 slices (appetizer)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 3 teaspoons high oleic sunflower or safflower oil, divided
• 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage
• 2 cups sliced white button mushrooms
• 1/4 of a large sweet onion
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, + extra for garnish
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 Polenta Chub (i.e. Ancient Harvest), cut in half lengthwise then in to 28 “half moon” slices
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Heat a large skillet on medium, add pine nuts and toast for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
2. Remove pine nuts from skillet and set aside in a medium size bowl.
3. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan, add sausage, stirring well to break up and crumble. Cook sausage over medium heat for 5 minutes or until done.
4. Remove sausage from skillet and add to the bowl containing the pine nuts.
5. While sausage is cooking, place mushrooms, onion, and rosemary in a food processor with the chopping blade, and process until all ingredients are very finely chopped.
6. After removing the sausage from the skillet, add the mushroom, onion, and rosemary mixture to the skillet, and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
7. Add the veggie mixture to the bowl containing the sausage and pine nuts. Top with fresh ground black pepper and stir well to combine. Cover the mixture to keep warm until ready to serve.
8. Use the same skillet (if there aren't any burned bits) to cook the polenta, or use another skillet if necessary.
9. Heat skillet on medium, and add 1 teaspoon of the oil. Place half the polenta slices in the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until desired crispiness.
10. Remove polenta slices from the pan to a serving dish, and repeat with the remaining polenta.
11. Once all of the polenta slices are on the serving dish, top each slice with a generous amount of the mushroom/sausage mixture, then sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese on top.
12. Garnish with fresh rosemary before serving.

Attribution

Recipe used with permission from EA Stewert from the Spicy RD Nutrition and Recipe Redux through: Mushroom Council