Thursday, September 30, 2010

Suzee's Sausage Cassoulet

I was perusing food blogs today, loving all the "classics" on the project food blog, and I came upon a blog which posted about Pam Anderson's Perfect One-Dish Dinners. That post inspired this post - I haven't read the book, but wanted to mention it because it was so highly recommended.

This delectible dish was conceived when it was reasonably cool out (this morning),  but whew, the oven just heated the apartment to almost unbearable. This would be fabulous in a crock pot too, though not an all day affair.

Here are the ingredients:
1 lb sausage (I used chicken sausage here, but I would definitely change to sweet italian sausage next time)

4 plum tomatoes chopped (or a pint of grape tomatoes - today I only had 2 plum tomatoes, so I added 8 oz of tomato sauce)

1 large onion cut in 1 - 1.5" chunks

4 large garlic cloves, sliced (not too thinly)

3 T olive oil

1.5 T balsamic vinegar - if you have the good stuff, don't hesitate to use it - it's only a small amount and it makes a huge difference!

2 t dried thyme

3 small bay leaves

s&p

1 can cannellini beans drained and rinsed

1 10 oz pkg frozen spinach

1/2 C water

Adjust oven rack to lowest position, and heat to 350. Mix all ingredients up to and including the salt and pepper in a dutch oven. Roast about an hour, until the tomatoes break down and make a nice sauce.

Remove from the oven, add the beans, spinach and water, and simmer on the stove top for 5 minutes or until heated through.

Serve in a bowl or on a plate - your choice, but add a light drizzle of fruity olive oil over the top - it makes the beans sing :) Enjoy with crusty bread and a nice Rioja :)