Cheesy Sausage Grits with Mushroom Ragu

My family's been wanting to try grits (it's quite possible we've watched too many Chopped episodes).  So, this week I purchased a box and looked at on-line recipes to see what I could come up with that would be appreciated.  I had made polenta a few years ago, and all I can really remember is that it wasn't tasty enough to repeat.  I wanted this time to be different; however there were really only two themes revealed in my search:
1 - Grits with butter, salt and pepper.
2 - Grits with cheese, shrimp and/or sausage. 

Southerners seem to be as unwavering in their butter/S&P variation as Vermonters are with maple syrup in their oatmeal.  I can respect that, but it just doesn't sound good.  So, I decided to go cheesy.

I had a big tub of shrooms in the fridge, a teeny bit of wine leftover from another dish, and a narrow window of opportunity before dropping off and picking up daughter #1 from basketball practice, and the arrival of husband and daughter #2 home from her game.  So...cheesy grits, and I would make a ragu for the top.  Ok.  We had a plan.  Yay.

The Ragu:
EVOO
12 oz button mushrooms (or variety of your choice), sliced
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup veggie stock
2 Tbsp flour mixed with a smidge of water
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp Earth Balance butter

Give a saute pan a coating of olive oil.  Add onions, mushrooms, and garlic.  Cook and stir until slightly browned and tender.

Add wine and stock and simmer for a few minutes. 

Add the flour/water mixture to thicken and then butter and S&P to finish off.

The Grits:
1-1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
2-1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup organic yellow corn grits
EVOO
2 links Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausage
1 cup Daiya Pepperjack Style Shreds

Dice up the sausage.  In a small fry pan, add a swirl of EVOO and the sausage, tossing til crispy and browned.

Meanwhile in a large saucepan boil the milk, water, salt and grits until it's the desired consistency, about 5 minutes.

Add the Daiya and sausage, and mix until shreds are nicely melted.

Top a dollop (or two) of the grits with the ragu and serve with a side salad of baby spinach (not a bad crazy-basketball-night dinner!).  Three thumbs up from the family.  The fourth thumb is going through an "I don't like anything anymore" phase, so she doesn't count.  Two thumbs said they'd like to try the plain butter/S&P version next. *the yankee sighs*

Stay tuned...