Beans and Sausage With Polenta (Lidia Bastianich)
- Ready In:
- 1hr 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 16
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
-
Beans
- 1 lb dried cannellini beans
- 4 bay leaves, preferably fresh
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1⁄2 teaspoon coarse sea salt or 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
-
Sausages
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing
- 3⁄4 cup bacon, chopped in 1/2-inch pieces (3 thick-cut strips)
- 6 sweet Italian sausages, in casings (about 1 1/2 lb.)
- 1 small onion, chopped (1 cup)
- 2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 cups hot water
- 3 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes, crushed by hand (preferably San Marzano, 28 oz. can)
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- polenta, freshly cooked and soft
directions
- Rinse beans and soak them in plenty of cold water for 8 hours or overnight.
- Drain and place the beans in a 4-quart saucepan with fresh cold water, covering them by an inch or more, along with the 4 bay leaves and 2 tablespoons oil.
- Bring to a boil, partially cover the pot, and adjust the heat to maintain a bubbling simmer.
- When the beans are almost tender, but still slightly undercooked, after about 40 minutes, remove from the heat; drain through a colander.
- Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon salt and let cool; discard the bay leaves.
- Add 4 tablespoons olive oil into the wide saucepan, scatter the bacon pieces into it, and set over med-high heat.
- Cook, stirring, until the bacon starts rendering fat, then drop in the sausages; let them sizzle and begin to brown.
- Add the chopped onion and the two bay leaves, and stir them around the pan bottom; meanwhile, keep rolling over the sausages so they color on all sides.
- Cook for several minutes to allow the onion and meat to caramelize, then clear a space on the pan bottom and drop in the tomato paste.
- Stir it in the clear spot for a minute, until sizzling, then spread the paste all around the pan, stirring and tumbling the sausages so they are coated.
- Pour the red wine vinegar into a clear space in the pan, let it sizzle and evaporate for a few minutes, then stir and tumble everything again.
- Pour 1 cup of hot water into the saucepan, increase the heat, and deglaze the caramelization as the water bubbles.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes and stir well.
- Rinse the tomato containers with a second cup of water, and pour that in too.
- Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir everything together, and bring to a boil.
- Keep the tomato sauce bubbling gently for about 10 minutes, then spill the beans into the pan; stir in the beans while the sauce returns to a boil.
- Stir in the water, if needed, so the sauce is loose and nearly covers the sausages and beans.
- Cook at a gentle boil, stirring now and then, until the beans are tender and the sauce has nicely thickened, 10 minutes or more (add water if the beans need longer cooking; or, if the sauce seems too loose, reduce it quickly over high heat).
- Turn off the heat, and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.
- Cover the pan to keep the beans warm until the polenta is ready to serve.
- Assemble individual portions in warm wide pasta bowls; first dip a large spoon in water, and with it scoop up polenta and mound it in each bowl.
- Spoon over a generous helping of beans in sauce, and lay a sausage on top.
- Drizzle with olive oil, grind on more black pepper, and serve immediately.
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