White Bean and tomatoes

White Beans and Sausage

courtesy of simplerecipes.com

Posted by Elise on Sep 10, 2007

Filed under Gluten-Free, Main Course, Pork

 

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Okay, so why didn't we think of this earlier? White beans, Italian sausage, tomato sauce. It's sort of like spaghetti but with white beans instead of pasta. Filling? Yes. Resistible? No.

White Beans and Sausage Recipe

Note, this recipe calls for preparing dried beans. You can substitute steps 1 and 2 in the recipe by using 4 15-ounce cans of beans, rinsed and drained.

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INGREDIENTS

Beans

• 1 lb dried cannellini beans
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4-5 fresh sage leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 black peppercorns
• Salt

Beans with sausage

• 5 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian sausage
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 3-4 canned plum tomatoes, chopped
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 cup tomato purée
• Salt (about 2 teaspoons) and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

1 Sort through the beans, removing any stones. Rinse the beans under cold running water. Place beans in a large pot and cover by at least a couple of inches with cold water. Let soak for at least 4 hours.

2 Drain the beans. Add 3 quarts of water back to the beans in the pot. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil, the sage leaves, 2 cloves crushed garlic, and the peppercorns. Cover, bring to a simmer on medium heat, and simmer beans for one hour. Season to taste with salt. Lower the heat so that the beans are barely simmering. Cook for an additional 1-2 hours, or until beans are just tender. Note that the fresher the beans the shorter the cooking time, the older the beans the longer. Remove from heat and let cool in cooking liquid. Set aside 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, drain the rest from the beans.

3 Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Remove sausages from their casings (if the sausage has come in casings), and fry on the skillet until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. Do not stir that much and do not crowd the pan, or the sausage won't brown well. Add the reserved bean cooking liquid, 4 Tbsp olive oil, garlic, chopped tomatoes, and red pepper flakes, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

4 Add the reserved beans and tomato purée. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer a few minutes longer, stirring gently, until sausage is cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Be careful not to break up the beans.

Serves 4-8.

White Bean and Vegetable soup

White Bean and Vegetable Soup Recipe

courtesy of simplyrecipes.com

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INGREDIENTS

• 2 15-oz cans cannellini or white kidney beans (or 1/2 lb dried beans, soaked overnight in water), drained
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/8 head of green cabbage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 1/2 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 5 cups (or more) vegetable stock or canned vegetable broth
• 1 medium potato, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 head of red cabbage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 zucchini or summer squash, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Tabasco sauce (optional)

METHOD

1 Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, thyme, and garlic. Sauté 5 minutes. Add green cabbage, tomatoes, celery, and carrots. Sauté 10 minutes.

2 Add beans, 5 cups of stock, potatoes, and basil. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for one hour.

3 Add red cabbage and zucchini. Add salt. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes longer. Stir in cheese. Sprinkle in a a dash of Tabasco hot sauce if you want to give the soup a little zip.

Serve with ground pepper and bread.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

White beans and Kale

This week I cooked up a large batch of white beans and have been looking for ways to use them all.  We've also recently become HUGE fans of kale at our house.....so naturally, this recipe is a new favorite!  I usually leave the sausage out but it does add a nice flavor.

Kale with Sausage and White Beans Recipe

courtesy of simplyrecipes.com

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 20 minutes

We used curly kale for this recipe, but you could use any kale, as well as chard, turnip greens, beet greens, or collards. A splash of vinegar (sherry, red wine, cider) is a nice touch right at the end of cooking.

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage, or other sausage (use gluten-free sausage if cooking gluten-free)
• 1 onion, sliced thin (about 1 1/2 cup's worth of sliced onions)
• 2 large garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 1 pound kale (1 large bunch), center thick rib removed, leaves roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 15-ounce can of white beans, rinsed and drained
• Salt and pepper

METHOD

1 Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the bulk sausage; if you can't find bulk sausage, remove the casings on the links. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then add the onion slices and turn the heat to high. Cook until the edges of the onions brown, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

2 Add the kale, sprinkle salt over everything, then add the chicken stock. Cover the pan, lower the heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes.

3 Uncover, mix everything well (the kale will have cooked down by now) and add the beans. Cover the pot again and lower the heat to low. Cook another 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then serve.

Yield: Serves 4-6 as a side dish.