A Bean and Sausage Recipe I Recommend for Cold Winter Nights.
Every winter there comes a time when you need to replenish your arsenal of hot liquid dishes. If you have enough recipes – all your hot soups, stews, biscuits and sauces – they will help you get through until spring. Much to the chagrin of my friends, I call this season “hot beans.” One of my favorite dishes that falls into this category is beans and sausage cooked in a Dutch oven. It’s totally easy, totally satisfying, and you don’t need any special cooking skills to make it.
The reason I come back to this dish again and again is because it uses the Screw In cooking method – just dump everything into the pan. Well, the initial searing of the sausage is necessary for flavor development, but I consider this step part of the Screw It method because it allows me to skip all the mise en place: I use the time of searing the sausage to chop the other two ingredients.
I love making this recipe in a Dutch oven. (Don’t worry, you don’t need a Le Creuset; any of these cheaper options will work just fine.) This dish simmers for a while, and the heavy cast iron Dutch oven ensures low heat is evenly distributed while the domed lid redistributes the moisture back into the sauce. However, you can cook these amazing beans and sausage in any heavy-bottomed saucepan or large, wide skillet with a tight-fitting lid.
This dish makes me feel like I’m in a cozy tavern on a snowy mountain. This has never happened to me, but I’m sure such food will be available there. I use the whole can of cannellini beans, including the aquafaba. Don’t drain these beans, even if you decide to use a different variety, such as chickpeas or red beans. The viscous liquid is full of healthy proteins and starches that will thicken the sauce beautifully. This liquid will also help dissolve the coating that forms on the browned sausage and create a very savory sauce.
I believe this recipe serves two people with two sausages each, but you can double it or use a little more of any ingredient to suit your style. A couple more potatoes wouldn’t hurt this dish. If you don’t like kale, substitute raw spinach, chard, mustard greens or collard greens.
Easy Dutch Oven Beans and Sausage Recipe
Ingredients:
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1 tablespoon olive oil
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4 sausage links
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4 ribs lacinato cabbage
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2 red potatoes
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1 clove of garlic
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1 can cannellini beans (including liquid)
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1 cup chicken broth
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½ teaspoon salt (adjust depending on your chicken broth)
1. In a large Dutch oven or heavy-duty saucepan, brown the sausage links in olive oil over medium heat. While they are cooking, turn them once or twice.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the remaining ingredients. Coarsely chop the cabbage, cut the potatoes into half-inch cubes, peel and crush the garlic clove.
3. Once the sausages have started to color on both sides of each link, add all the other ingredients. Poke everything to make sure it has some contact with the broth. Cover it with a well-fitting lid and simmer over low heat for 20–25 minutes. Stir occasionally to scrape up any fudge from the bottom of the pan.
4. About five minutes before cooking, crush some of the beans with a wooden spoon to release some of the starch and thicken the sauce further (if desired). Enjoy with a piece of crusty bread.