Polenta Lasagna

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 2 cups polenta, preferably red
• 2 cups of water
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 cube of vegetable stock
• 250 g quark (cottage cheese), fat-free
• 250 ml cream
• 4 tbsp sour cream
• 300 g cheese (smoked cheese) in one piece
• 2 large cans of tomatoes, sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 pack of lasagna sheets, green
• 1 large onion(s), finely chopped
• 5 tbsp Italian herbs, dried or 1 bunch fresh (sage, thyme, basil, oregano)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 handfuls of cheese, coarsely grated

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour

meat-free lasagna based on an old family recipe from Calabria

Place the polenta in a large pot with water, milk, and 1 cube of vegetable stock and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. In the meantime, coarsely grate the smoked cheese and then mix well with the curd cheese, cream, and sour cream in a large bowl. Add the polenta and mix everything together again, then season with the 6 crushed cloves of garlic. Bring a large pot with plenty of water to a boil while preheating the oven to 170°C. Place the lasagna sheets one at a time in the water and pre-cook (reason: otherwise they absorb too much liquid from the polenta, which makes everything very dry). While the sheets are cooking, fry the finely chopped onion in 2 tablespoons of hot oil and then deglaze with the sliced ​​tomatoes. Add the herbs, press 2 cloves of garlic into the sauce, stir in the sugar, and let everything simmer for about 5 minutes. Now grease a deep ovenproof dish (pan, casserole dish, etc.) with olive oil and immediately place a layer of pre-cooked lasagna sheets on top. Ladle a deep ladleful of the polenta mixture over the top, spreading it to a thickness of about 1.5 cm. Cover with lasagna sheets and pour over tomato sauce. Add more pasta sheets and spread another layer of polenta about 1.5 cm thick. Repeat until all the mixture is used up—the last layer must be tomato sauce. Sprinkle with two handfuls of cheese. Bake in the hot oven for about 30 minutes. A simple green salad goes very well with the dish.