Polenta Lasagna With Spinach and Herby Ricotta

Oh, Melissa. You always make it too hard! My nonna made polenta regularly. Start the polenta in cold water and let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then put it on the stove. No lumps and smooth consistency. Add some ricotta or marscapone to the polenta along with Parmesan cheese, and it also becomes more silky. Let it cool just a bit, then just ladle or spoon it over sauce and add layers of other delicious things. Bake it all and serve.

I've made a variation of this dish with the pre-cooked polenta in plastic sleeves (also adding more veggies like red peppers and onions to the sauce) and it is delicious, easy and quick to assemble.

This is in spirit very much like a dish we often had as kids made by a Swiss friend of our parents, which lacked the ricotta and mozzarella needed to make the lasagna, but which was layered with polenta and marinara. Each layer of the dish also contained lots of crisply fried onions (2-3 onions worth, crispy and brown) which also topped the dish. Perfect for a winter dinner, especially when the adults get to have a nice sangiovese or another juicy norther Italian red

Loved it, but agree with others: unnecessarily complicated. Made half a recipe. Put spinach between the layers, not in the polenta. When polenta was cooked, divided it between two square 9-in. baking dishes, baked until firm and cheese getting brown. After cooling for 20-30 minutes, removed one of the polenta squares to a cooling rack. Then layered ricotta mixture, sauce, spinach and cheese on polenta in other dish, topped with other polenta square, then rest of ingredients.

Hmmm, no need to call it lasagna, it’s polenta and you can make it the very same day! When hot and donde pour half of the polenta in the pan, add all the ingredients ricotta, mozzarella, etc and then quickly pour the other half of the polenta and... done! To the oven it goes. Cold next day or heated it’s delicious! Note: no need of butter just extra olive oil! And the oregano should be Italian, not the Greek oregano which is way too strong. And no nutmeg either! Buen provecho!

Opted to put down parchment for baking the polenta which was really helpful when cutting and transferring. FOrgot to add the spinach in the polenta so cooked it and rang out the water and added to the ricotta mixture instead. Really hearty vegetarian dish that could also take sausage if you are looking to add a protein.

Yes . I have made it by slicing the polenta into discs and grilling before assembling the Lasgna

I don’t think it’s complicated and I like the idea of mixing the spinach in with the polenta. My grandkids are much more inclined to eat it that way. Not sure people have such a burning desire to change well-tested recipes, especially on the first try.

Any savory dish I make with ricotta, I always mix into it everything being added to the ricotta (except the egg) 8 to 24 hours ahead and let the flavors meld in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container, for this I added a very very very finely minced clove of garlic & 1 TLB of very very very finely minced onion (whatever kind you have, mine are usually sweet.). When ready to use the ricotta in the dish stir in the beaten egg. The above results in much better flavored ricotta.

It’s been a long time since I’ve used those pre-cooked plastic tubes of polenta. But this is the perfect recipe for it and cuts cooking time WAY down. I cut and layered the polenta but made the mistake of making the slices too thin. I’d suggest 1/4”-1/2” slices so the polenta doesn’t just become total mush. It’s nice to have a little structure besides sauce and cheese.

This is yet another variation on mamaliga. My Romanian mother made it with layers of polenta (or mush as she called it), American cheese, and sour cream, then baked it. A heart attack on a plate, but no better comfort food anywhere.

I love this idea, as I have a DIL who has Celiac disease and while we all love pasta, we never serve it for her, but this would be a familiar and comforting dish that we could all share.

Polenta is a breeze with Instant Pot (or similar). Plus no painful splatters that tend to happen with traditional stove top method. Whisk 1 cup polenta with 4 cups water in Instant Pot. Season with 1 tsp. salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring to simmer, whisk again, then seal pressure cooker. Cook high pressure 9 min, natural release (it will splatter with quick release, but after a 15-20 min can open vent if desired). Finish with a knob of butter & grated Parmesan to taste.

I have made a more simple version of this dish for years, Polenta Concia, from Madeleine Kamman's "Madeleine Cooks" (1986). Can't remember seeing the public TV show which this was a companion to, but the cookbook is full of great recipes, easily executed. Her sauce includes onion, tomatoes, mushrooms, parlsey, garlic, anchovies and Fontina or Gruyere cheese.

It seems a little odd to put a layer of the ricotta mixture on top, with no polenta over it. Something tells me some mushrooms would be yummy in this too.