Cassoulet-Style Italian Sausages & White Beans

I had a meeting until 5:30pm today, and as I embarked on my crazy commute (from basement office to basement stairs, take a right) a delicious aroma began to fill my nostrils. That smell that draws you in and makes you instantly hungry. Nothing like the aroma of a delicious dinner to erase the stresses of the day from your mind. If not for a few moments.

Rich and Vi threw this together. It's a recipe from my new favorite cookbook Perfect One-Dish Dinners. Ok, it's my new favorite, yet this is only the second recipe we tried. 99% of the pages are dog-eared. Pointless, I know.

I realize that 10 out of the last 15 recipes we've posted here include beans. At risk of further alienating some of our readers (sorry you two), I give you another post with beans. If you haven't tried any of the other bean recipes here, I implore you to try this one. So much flavor, so easy, so cheap, kids eat it. Do it.

Mangia~

Lora

Cassoulet-Style Italian Sausages & White Beans

Serves 4ish (her recipe serves 8, we paired down the sausage, tomatoes and beans. Basically, it's scalable.)

1 1/2 lbs sweet Italian Sausage links (kind of figure 2 links per person)

2 pints cherry tomatoes

1 med onion chopped

4 large cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp EVOO

1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper

2 cans white beans (we used cannellini), rinsed

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 425.

Toss all ingredients (except beans) in roasting pan and roast until sausages are browned and tomatoes have reduced to a thick sauce (i'd break-up a few at this point), about 45 mins. Pull out, add beans, mix lightly, return to oven to bake 10 more mins.

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs (see below) and serve. In hind-sight, this would be excellent with crusty bread and crisp, fresh steamed green beans sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Toasted Breadcrumbs

Melt 2 tbsp butter in med skillet on med heat

Add 2 cups panko breadcrumbs

Sprinkle with salt

Mix almost constantly and until the crumbs are golden brown (about 15 mins)