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white bean & italian sausage stew

Submitted by on February 20, 2011 – 9:26 am12 Comments

italian sausage stew

My cousin Britt and her family moved back to the States from Guam late last year. Although Britt and I lived about four hours apart growing up, our families spent a lot of holiday and summer vacations together. And despite our age difference – I’m several years older – we were always close. But as we grew older we didn’t see each other often and almost completely lost touch. It wasn’t until we were both married with children that circumstances brought us together again, living only about 20 minutes apart.

For a couple of years we saw each other frequently, sharing all those same holidays and birthdays just as we did when we were kids. It was awesome having family close by, and Britt became one of my closest friends. But then they moved to Guam, we moved to Northern Virginia and the odds of us living close to one another became pretty slim.

fresh thyme

Last year Britt and her family moved back to the States and we’re now within driving distance again! It’s so awesome having them back. Shortly after they moved back, they came over to see our new digs and catch up. The weather had just started turning colder; I wanted to make something easy and comforting that would keep me out of the kitchen so we’d have plenty of time together.

That was the first time I made this white bean stew, although I’ve made it many times since then. It’s so easy to throw together, and despite the short list of ingredients it has great depth of flavor. The recipe calls for making it in the slow cooker which I did the first time and it worked well. Since then I’ve opted for slowly simmering on the stove which also does the job nicely. Either way you choose, you’ll love this easy and delicious white bean stew!

Cheers,

White Bean Stew with Italian Sausage

Ingredients

* 6 Italian sausages
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 large onion, sliced
* 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
* 2 (15 oz.) cans white beans (Great Northern or navy), rinsed and drained
* 2 15 oz. cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes, drained (can use regular but fire-roasted are the best!)
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 tsp. dried thyme
* S alt and pepper

Preparation

Poke holes in sausages and put in a large nonstick skillet. Add 1/4 cup water; bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook sausages, turning, until lightly browned and water has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes and thyme.

Put half of bean mixture into a slow cooker. Arrange sausages on top, followed by remaining beans. Cook on high for 4 hours. Check after 2 hours and add water if mixture looks dry.

Remove sausages; slice thickly. Season beans with salt and pepper. Return sausage to stew. (Stew can be kept, frozen and tightly sealed, for up to 1 month.)

OR…use a dutch oven instead of a skillet and simmer it all on the stove. I usually simmer for at least an hour or two to develop flavors, but as long as it’s hot and the sausages are cooked you’re good to go!


adapted from myrecipes.com