White Bean, Sage, and Sausage Casserole
Dec. 19th, 2010 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wendywoowho1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 packages chicken sausage (8 sausages or 8 servings of sausage total) (we used 1 package chicken & truffle, 1 of chicken & apple)
1 lb carrots, chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped (or onion powder in a pinch, which is what we did)
3 14-oz cans of white beans, drained (we used Great Northerns) or equal amount home-cooked (soak and cook a pound, you'll be fine)
1/2 cup chicken stock (or white wine, frankly; we were drinking red, so we went with stock)
sage, and quite a bit of it
salt, to taste
herbs de Provence, if you feel like it
2 big bags pre-washed spinach
4 oz fresh bread, pulverized or grated into crumbs
1 - 2 additional tablespoons olive oil
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In your absolutely largest stove-top-safe skillet or wide Dutch oven, heat up 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown sausages on all sides; remove and hold. Add carrots and onion (with salt) to skillet, and cook until they start to soften (carrots should still have a little bite to 'em). Add chicken stock -- watch out for the steam! Add beans, stir to combine. Add 2 tablespoons or more of sage, and a couple good pinches of other herbs. Stir. Slice sausages and add to beans. Stir. Taste, and correct seasonings. Stir some more. Stir occasionally. You're going to want to let some of the stock cook off, until it all starts to feel a little thick, a little more stew-like than soup-like. The beans should be threatening to pop.
While you're doing this, nuke the spinach per bag directions. Throw cooked spinach into your 9 x 13 dish. (Optional: if you hate greens, don't do this. Otherwise, do)
Spoon out into your favorite 9 x 13 dish, stir to incorporate the spinach (if you're using it), smooth out on top, and pop into the oven. Set your timer for 60 minutes.
Go have a glass of wine, eat a slice of crusty bread with a little cheese.
Go back to the kitchen! Take 4 oz of that crusty bread, and either pulverize it in a food processor, or grate it on a box grater. I have a food processor, I used a grater. Add another tablespoon or more of sage, and a good hearty pinch of other herbs; toss to combine. Drizzle with 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil, until everything has been touched by oil, but nothing is drenched.
When the timer goes off, slide the casserole out of the oven. Sprinkle the crumbs over the top, and smooth it out. Pop it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes until fragrant and golden.
Let stand for 5 minutes.
Scoop up.
Serve on its own, or with some crusty bread.
Go back for seconds.
Have more wine, or some beer.
2 packages chicken sausage (8 sausages or 8 servings of sausage total) (we used 1 package chicken & truffle, 1 of chicken & apple)
1 lb carrots, chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped (or onion powder in a pinch, which is what we did)
3 14-oz cans of white beans, drained (we used Great Northerns) or equal amount home-cooked (soak and cook a pound, you'll be fine)
1/2 cup chicken stock (or white wine, frankly; we were drinking red, so we went with stock)
sage, and quite a bit of it
salt, to taste
herbs de Provence, if you feel like it
2 big bags pre-washed spinach
4 oz fresh bread, pulverized or grated into crumbs
1 - 2 additional tablespoons olive oil
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In your absolutely largest stove-top-safe skillet or wide Dutch oven, heat up 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown sausages on all sides; remove and hold. Add carrots and onion (with salt) to skillet, and cook until they start to soften (carrots should still have a little bite to 'em). Add chicken stock -- watch out for the steam! Add beans, stir to combine. Add 2 tablespoons or more of sage, and a couple good pinches of other herbs. Stir. Slice sausages and add to beans. Stir. Taste, and correct seasonings. Stir some more. Stir occasionally. You're going to want to let some of the stock cook off, until it all starts to feel a little thick, a little more stew-like than soup-like. The beans should be threatening to pop.
While you're doing this, nuke the spinach per bag directions. Throw cooked spinach into your 9 x 13 dish. (Optional: if you hate greens, don't do this. Otherwise, do)
Spoon out into your favorite 9 x 13 dish, stir to incorporate the spinach (if you're using it), smooth out on top, and pop into the oven. Set your timer for 60 minutes.
Go have a glass of wine, eat a slice of crusty bread with a little cheese.
Go back to the kitchen! Take 4 oz of that crusty bread, and either pulverize it in a food processor, or grate it on a box grater. I have a food processor, I used a grater. Add another tablespoon or more of sage, and a good hearty pinch of other herbs; toss to combine. Drizzle with 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil, until everything has been touched by oil, but nothing is drenched.
When the timer goes off, slide the casserole out of the oven. Sprinkle the crumbs over the top, and smooth it out. Pop it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes until fragrant and golden.
Let stand for 5 minutes.
Scoop up.
Serve on its own, or with some crusty bread.
Go back for seconds.
Have more wine, or some beer.
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 01:36 am (UTC)And, you would certainly appreciate this, but I was picking out cheese for our Christmas cheese plate. And as much as we love Tillamook, it's normally too expensive (given the amount of cheese we consume), but I thought, for Christmas, I'd get some.
Baby loaves for $3.99. I almost screamed in the grocery store. I couldn't even believe it.
So I have a 2 lb. brick of monterey jack and a 2 lb. brick of medium white cheddar in the fridge (they had a limit of 2 for that price). Merry Christmas to us!
no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 01:39 am (UTC)Nick ate seconds of the casserole; I think it's Man Friendly. You can use any kind of sausage, really; I went w/ chicken because it was low fat and flavorful, but anything would work.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 01:54 am (UTC)I think chicken and apple sausage sounds great, and I can find that easily enough.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 04:36 am (UTC)Nom.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 12:24 pm (UTC)No, seriously, it simply must be; it's like soup, after all, but thicker. Mmmm, thicker than soup....
And it's dead simple.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 10:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 11:30 pm (UTC)1 package breakfast sausage (I get awesome breakfast sausage from my farmer, but Johnsonville Farms worked too)
couple ribs of celery, diced
a few carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
several cloves of garlic (I've used an entire head, I love garlic)
1 bunch swiss chard (I've used frozen spinach too)
2 cans cannellini beans/great northern beans (or equivalent dried/soaked)
plenty of chicken stock
Brown the sausage. I took the casings off then browned it so it was easier to break apart in the pan but then I discovered the beauty of browning it with casing then removing it and slicing it. Add in onions, cook them down as sweet as you want them. Add everything else, bring to a boil then simmer until beans are done. I let it go covered for an hour then take the lid off and check every 10 minutes or so until the broth is reduced to a nice flavor and the beans have given it a little bit of thickness. Then I serve it with some french bread and it's sooooo good. :)