A Marriage Made In Heaven: Polenta Lasagna

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter a 13 by 18 inch rimmed baking sheet pan. Grease a rubber spatula with butter.
• Step 2 To prepare the polenta, bring 6 C. of water (and 1 T. salt) to a boil in a large pot. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat and set your stove burner to medium. Slowly whisk the polenta into the pot of hot water. Cook the polenta for 8 to 12 minutes until it thickens, whisking often to avoid lumps. Once the polenta thickens, whisk in 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Continue whisking until the butter is fully melted. Whisk in baby spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted. (This will take about 2 minutes.) Remove the pot of polenta, spinach, and butter from the heat and whisk in 1 cup of grated Parmesan.
• Step 3 Using the buttered spatula, spoon the polenta onto the prepared sheet pan. Spread the polenta into a thin and even layer that covers the entire pan. Sprinkle 1/2 C. of grated Parmesan on top of the polenta and put the sheet pan into the preheated oven. Bake for 12 to 18 minutes until the polenta is firm and the Parmesan has melted. Remove the pan of polenta from the oven and let it cool in the pan (sitting on a wire rack) until the polenta is completely cool.This part takes some patience. It will take an hour to an hour and a half for the polenta to cool completely. You can save some time by cooling the polenta in the refrigerator if you have the refrigerator space.
• Step 4 Preheat oven to 400 degrees to prepare to bake the lasagna. Prepare a 9 by 13 inch baking dish by buttering it thoroughly and generously.
• Step 5 Prepare the ricotta filling by mixing ricotta, parsley, basil, egg, black pepper, nutmeg and remaining 1/2 t. salt in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
• Step 6 Measure and taste your marinara sauce. If you have home-made marinara that would be wonderful. If you want to save time, use a jarred product. I’ve been reading a lot about Rao’s Marinara (available at Costco) and used that in this recipe. If you want to increase the spiciness of of your sauce, you can add any or all of the optional ingredients listed in the ingredients. I found Rao’s was plenty spicy to my taste and did not add any of the optional ingredients.
• Step 7 Assemble your lasagna. Use a pizza cutter (or knife) to cut the cooled polenta widthwise (is that a word?) into two pieces that are roughly 9 by 13 inches each. You will need to be careful in the next step not to break your polenta. Gently place one of the polenta half sheets in the bottom of your buttered baking dish. (Use a rubber spatula to make this step easier. If your polenta does break, piece it back together on the bottom of the baking dish.)
• Step 8 Spread half of the ricotta on the sheet of polenta. Spread half of the marinara sauce on top of the ricotta. Sprinkle half of the shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the marinara sauce. Repeat, starting with the second layer of polenta and  ending with a layer of mozzarella. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 C.Parmesan on top of the assembled lasagna.
• Step 9 To ensure that your oven stays clean, set the assembled polenta lasagna on top of a rimmed sheet pan that is larger than your baking dish. This pan will catch any sauce that bubbles over while the lasagna is being baked. Bake for 30 minutes. If you want, you can cook the lasagna for a couple of minutes under the broiler in your oven at the very end to make the top brown a bit. If you do this, watch the dish carefully to be sure you don’t burn the polenta lasagna.
• Step 10 Carefully, remove the polenta lasagna from the oven. This is a heavy dish, so be careful! Let the lasagna sit on the counter for about 15 minutes (or more) before serving to let it firm up a bit. Enjoy! This dish can be frozen for up to 3 months. Freeze it in well-wrapped portions.