White Beans with Sausage and Arrabbiata Sauce

by Susan Hanna

This hearty dish from Food and Wine combines spicy pork sausages with tomato sauce and garlic-rosemary white beans. Soak and cook the dried beans. Brown the sausages and set aside. Cook onion and garlic, add hot red pepper flakes, wine, tomatoes, water and fish sauce, return the sausages to the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove sausages when they are cooked, slice into thirds and return to the pan. Divide the warm, cooked beans among serving bowls and spoon the sauce and sausages over them. Garnish with arugula and cheese. Cook’s note: I omitted the arugula.

Serves 4-6.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives 

I used Free From hot Italian sausages, Blue Menu tomatoes and Cock fish sauce; all are free of additives. Check the red pepper flakes to make sure they don’t contain colour or anti-caking agents. I used a wine from Frogpond Farm that contains a sulphite level below 10 parts per million. Genuine Parmesan cheese contains no additives; look for the name stamped on the rind. For more recipes using all-natural ingredients, visit Eye For a Recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (454 g) dried white beans (such as Marcella beans or cannellini beans)
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 (6-inch/15-cm) rosemary sprig
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for garnish
• 1 ½ tablespoons (22.5 ml) kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 5 medium garlic cloves, smashed, divided
• 1 pound (454 g) spicy Italian pork sausage
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup/250 ml)
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ cup (125 ml) dry white wine
• 1 (28-ounce/796 ml) can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
• 1 ½ cups (375 ml) water
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fish sauce
• Arugula, fresh lemon juice, and shaved Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Preparation:

1. Place beans in a 6-quart (6 L) pot. Add water to cover beans by 2 inches (5 cm). Refrigerate, covered, at least 8 hours or up to 12 hours.
2. Add bay leaves, rosemary sprig, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil, salt, and 2 garlic cloves to pot with beans. Bring to a simmer over medium-high. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook at a bare simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours. Season with additional salt to taste. Set beans aside; keep warm.
3. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml) oil in a large skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Add sausages; cook, turning occasionally, until browned, 5 to 6 minutes. (Adjust heat as needed to prevent overbrowning.) Transfer sausages to a plate, reserving drippings in skillet. Add onion and remaining 3 garlic cloves to skillet. Cook over medium, stirring often, until onion is softened, 4 to 6 minutes. Add crushed red pepper, and cook, stirring often, 1 minute. Add wine, and cook, stirring often, until nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, water and fish sauce; bring to a simmer over medium, stirring occasionally. Return sausages and any accumulated juices on plate to skillet; cook over medium, stirring occasionally and breaking up tomatoes into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until sauce has thickened slightly and flavours meld, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove sausages when fully cooked through. (Sausages should register between 160°F and 165°F/71°C and 73°C.) Season tomato mixture with additional salt to taste. Slice sausages diagonally into thirds and nestle pieces back into sauce.
4. Divide beans evenly among serving bowls, and spoon sauce and sausages evenly over beans. Lightly dress arugula with olive oil and lemon juice to taste. Garnish bowls with arugula mixture and shaved Parmesan.

From Food and Wine