This easy recipe was a crowd-pleaser at Flavors of the Valley in 2016. Nancy made 20 batches in five Crock Pots to sample to about 1,000 attendees that day!
I find April a tough time of year in the Upper Valley for eating local and healthy. I always freeze and preserve food in the summer, but the freezer looks pretty lean at this time of year. I’m antsy for new local vegetables and already ate my week’s worth of farmers’ market spinach. Plus, the weather’s weird, and Daylight Savings came too early. All this is to say that I’m not really in the mood to put a lot of energy into a meal.
That’s why Sausage Bean Stew is perfect for early spring doldrums — it’s hearty and warm, yet bright and fresh, and best of all, so easy! The recipe calls for canned fire-roasted tomatoes, but if you canned or froze your own tomatoes, use those up since summer’s on its way.
NOTE: Don’t use red kidney beans in this recipe, as I explain later.
Sausage & Bean Stew
Adapted from Food Network Kitchen
Ingredients
1 onion, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 carrots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 ounces dried white beans (navy, cannellini, etc. picked over and rinsed)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage links (2 links)
One 14.5-ounce can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth or stock
1/2 cup ditalini or other small pasta
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grated Parmesan and crusty bread for serving
Directions:
Spread the onions over the bottom of a 6- to 7-quart slow cooker and top with the carrots, garlic, white beans, thyme bundle, and sausage links. Mix the diced tomatoes with the broth and 3 cups water and pour over the sausages.
Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours; the beans will be tender and begin to fall apart. Uncover the slow cooker, remove and discard the thyme bundle and transfer the sausage links to a cutting board. Stir the pasta into the stew and continue to cook, covered, until the pasta is cooked through about 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat. Cut the sausages into bite-size pieces and add them back into the stew along with the parsley and vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with grated Parmesan on the side for sprinkling on top and crusty bread for soaking up the broth.
Notes:
Choose your beans wisely: all raw or undercooked beans contain a small amount of a toxin called phytohaemagglutinin that causes gastrointestinal distress. Red kidney beans contain more of this toxin than other beans, and since many slow cookers don’t reach the temperature needed to break down the toxin, it’s best to keep red kidneys out of the slow cooker.
Boost flavor with Parmesan rind: If you have it, add a 4-ounce chunk of Parmesan rind to the pot initially and discard with the herbs at the end.
Use up leftover pasta: Substitute leftover pasta (or rice!) for the uncooked pasta by reducing the water by 1 cup and adding 1 cup of cooked pasta with the sausages at the end.