Fagioli all’Uccelletto (with or without Italian sausages)

Serves 4
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours, 30 minutes

Tuscans are known as Fagiolari or Mangia-fagioli (bean eaters) in Italy. You can be sure that meals in Tuscany often include beans in a variety of preparations.

The Tuscan dish Fagioli all’Uccelletto is quick, easy and delicious. The name all’uccelletto refers to the fact that this preparation uses ingredients (mostly sage and garlic) classically used in cooking small game birds.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (500 g) dried cannellini, navy or great northern (white beans), soaked overnight in abundant water*

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

• 7-8 leaves of fresh sage

• 1-2 peeled fresh plum tomatoes or a small can of tomatoes

• Boiling water

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 8 Mild Italian link sausages (optional; see below)

*If you’re in a hurry, you can substitute 2 cans of cannellini beans. They won’t be quite the same as the soaked beans but very good just the same.

Procedure:

If you decide to make Fagioli all'Uccelletto with sausages, use mild Italian sausages. If you like spicy food, you might mix in some other kinds of sausages (your favorites). Just don’t make this so strong that the great taste of the beans is overpowered. This recipe is base on two large sausages per person. If you have big eaters, you will want to adjust the recipe.

Drain the beans that have been soaked overnight in a colander then place them in a pot with clean cold water (that is 2 inches deeper than the top of the beans. Add a few leaves of fresh sage and a clove or two of peeled garlic to the beans. Bring water to a boil then set to simmer. Start checking the beans after ½ hour of simmering. You will need to cook them until they are about ¾ done so you will need to taste them (this could take up to 1 hour). Do not let the beans get too soft.

If you are including sausages, prick their skins lightly with a fork. People usually prefer to render some fat from the sausages before adding them to the beans. Sauté or boil the sausages for a few minutes to render some fat.

Once the beans are 3/4 done, set the olive oil to heat over a medium flame, in a heavy bottomed clay pot or Dutch oven. When the oil is heating, add the garlic and the sage (not more than seven or eight leaves). Cook until the sage gets crispy and the garlic just starts to brown (about 1 minute). Add the tomatoes, lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the beans and enough bean broth to cover. Season the beans with salt and pepper, add the sausages, and simmer everything until the beans are quite soft (10 to 15 minutes), stirring occasionally and adding bean broth as necessary to keep things from drying out. Please note that the final result should be on the drier side (not soupy).