Italian Beans with Sausage and Tomato

Fagioli con Salsiccia e Pomodoro

Serves about 3 as a main with a side. This is a simplification of a recipe in Julia della Croce's Antipasti. See that recipe for notes on the beans. I like to serve with Crostini and, say, a garlic mushroom spread. I have used ordinary mild Italian sausages with reasonable success.

2 cans		Drained white beans, say Great Northern
Salt		To taste (opt)
1		Onion, finely chopped
1 cl		Garlic, finely chopped
½ lb		Sweet Italian fennel sausages
1 T		Tomato paste
½ t		Dried sage, or 3 leaves fresh, sliced into thin strips
½ c		Beef stock or water
		Freshly milled black pepper
1 T		Chopped fresh Italian parsely

Remove casings from sausages and crumbled or roughly chopped;
Lightly rinse beans;
Sauté onion for and garlic gently for about 5 mins until softened but not brown;
Remove from pan and set aside;
Sauté sausage meat for about 5 mins to cook lightly;
Discard excess oil, combine everything except garnish and beans;
Bring to boil and simmer 10-15 mins partially covered;
When close to serving time, add beans and warm, being careful that they don't disintegrate.

Notes:

1 can beans is approx 1½ cups (cooked).
2006/12/24: Made double, with a little extra sausage, and added a little extra water. Added the beans a little too early. Didn't have any garnish, but worked well with crostini and mushroom spread.