I occasionally eat meat substitutes at home, but I’m usually pretty reluctant to include them in recipes on this site. It has to be one of those situations where pretty much nothing else will work quite as well. Well, I’d been craving some polenta when I came across this polenta ragù recipe. Field Roast Italian-style links are one of my favorite meat substitutes, and probably the one that I use most in my kitchen. And I felt like the recipe was pretty much begging for a vegan version using them. So I went for it. So glad I did!
What You’ll Need
Vegan Italian-style sausage Olive oil Red bell peppers Onion Garlic Tomato sauce Red pepper flakes Organic sugar Salt & pepper Polenta grits Vegetable broth Non-dairy milk Fresh basil
How It’s Made
Start by browning your sausage. Heat up a large skillet on the stove and cut your links into 1 inch pieces. Add them to the skillet and cook them for 10 minutes or so, turning every so often, until they begin to brown. Take them out of the skillet. Now increase the heat and add some olive oil to the skillet. When the oil is hot, add your onions and peppers. Cook them for about 5 minutes until they begin to brown, then add the garlic and cook everything for another minute.
Return the sausage to the skillet, then, stir in the tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, and sugar. Raise the heat and let your ragù simmer for about 10 minutes, until the veggies soften up.
You can make the polenta while your ragù simmers. Mix your polenta grits, broth, and milk in a saucepan, place it on the stove and bring it to a simmer. Let it cook until it’s thick and creamy.
Season your ragù and polenta with salt and some black pepper, if you like, then stir in some fresh basil. Divide the polenta among 4 bowls and top it with the ragù. Dig in!
Is this recipe gluten-free? It is if you use vegan gluten-free sausage links. Try Beyond Sausage hot Italian links. Leftover storage: I recommend storing your polenta and ragù separately, in sealed containers in the fridge. Each should keep for about 3 days. Variations! Instead of creamy polenta, try serving the ragù over pasta, crusty bread, or polenta from a tube. For tubed polenta, I recommend slicing and pan-frying it, like I did in my vegan polenta puttanesca recipe. Looking for more creamy polenta recipes? Try my sweet potato barbecue bowls, wild mushroom ragú, or cauliflower chickpea polenta bowls.
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