Italian Sausages And Beans With Sage (salsiccie Con Fagioli All'uccelletto)

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 2 cups dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight,drained and rinsed or 5 -6 cups fresh cannellini beans
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 lb fresh italian lamb sausage, chopped
• 1 cup strained tomato
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 sprig fresh sage or 2 teaspoons dried sage
• salt
• pepper
• sage leaf, for garnish

Recipe

• 1 place the dried beans in a large saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the beans are tender, skimming off the scum as needed.
• 2 drain the beans and reserve the cooking liquid.
• 3 heat 1/3 cup of the oil in a flameproof casserole or heavy-based saucepan.
• 4 add the sausages and cook over medium heat until brown on all sides.
• 5 add the tomatoes, garlic, sage, salt and pepper to taste, and stir well to mix.
• 6 bring to a boil, then add the beans and a few spoonfuls of the cooking liquid.
• 7 cover and simmer, stirring frequently, for 15 minutes- the consistency should be quite thick.
• 8 adjust the seasoning to taste.
• 9 just before serving, drizzle the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil over the dish and garnish with sage leaves.
• 10 my notes: i substituted coco blanc fresh shell beans for the cannellini; it took only~25 minutes for the beans i used to become tender; i merely chopped and drained the tomatoes; i used hot italian sausage; i added red pepper flakes; and i used 4 cloves garlic.