Baked Sausages with Herbed Beans

Okay folks, I gotta be honest, I wasn't too sure about this one when my friend Amber sent this to me. She said she got it from a Williams Sonoma cookbook. But I told everyone that sent me in recipes, that I would make them, and dish about it. A promise is a promise. So last night as I'm cooking this (which by the way, literally took like 15 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes in the oven..super fast and easy), I was getting worried that no one was going to like it. It smelled awesome though! So when it got done, I dished it up and Scott and Sydney LOVED it. It was sooo yummy. I loved it as well and little Dylan ate a whole bowl of it too. Trust me, this was tasty. Scott said it was kind of like an Italian Chili. I can't wait to eat the leftovers today for lunch. We used Naan bread because that's all I had on hand, but it would be even better with an artisan crusty bread or french bread.

Baked Sausages with Herbed Beans

2 Tbls Olive Oil, plus 1 teaspoon

Hot or Sweet Italian Sausages, sliced - about 1 lb (I used one package of sweet)

1 large yellow onion, quartered and thinly sliced

Garlic - 2 cloves, minced

Thyme - 2 Tbls fresh and chopped (I used dry because I didn't have fresh)

1 cup chicken broth

2 cans Cannellini beans - Amber used Great Northern Beans

1/4 cup tomato puree (you could use a little more if you like)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large dutch oven over medium high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the sliced sausage and cook, turning occasionally until browned on all sides, between 5 and 10 minutes.

Transfer to a plate. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and saute the onion until softened. Add the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about one minute.

Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Add the beans with their liquid and the tomato puree to the pot and cook until the liquid begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper (Amber and I both added garlic salt). Return sausages to the pot.

In a small bowl, stir together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and 1 tsp of olive oil. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top and bake until golden brown, about 20 - 25 minutes.

It's not that pretty, but wait until you taste it.

Serve with bread....YUM!