Salsiccie e fagioli

Salsiccie e fagioli (or Sausages and Beans!)

Regardless of how you say it this combination is a favourite in one form or another throughout Europe and indeed though the new world such as the United States and Australia where by European dishes were taken to the Colonies by settlers.

Here is one of my favourites that is often eaten at home for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

It is based on the tomatoey 'Fagioli all Uccelletto' from Tuscany that is traditionally served with pigs liver if my memory serves me well, and a little bit like the French cassoulet (but with out the duck!)

The list of ingredients are as follows, this is how I cook it but feel free to adapt, I use the rosemary and touch of chili combination, usually however it wouldn't have the chili and would have sage instead of rosemary....but i really would recommend lots of fresh crusty bread to mop up the juices with!

500 g Good Italian pork or Toulouse sausages

220 g Dried cannellini beans

Large tin (400g) of good chopped tomatoes

Glass of red wine

3 cloves of chopped garlic not too fine as its nice with a bit of body.

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon dried chili flakes

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and black pepper

Method:

Soak the beans overnight in cold water in a suitable container.

Drain the beans and rinse , simmer in fresh water for 35-45 minutes, drain and set aside for later use.

Saute the sausage over a low heat until nicely coloured all over-set aside

Add olive oil, garlic and rosemary to the saute pan and heat through gently so as not to colour the garlic (this will make it bitter if it does)

Now add the wine and the sausages back in to the pan and reduce the wine by half.

Now add the tomatoes and add a little bit of salt (depending on the sausages you do not want to over season in case the sausages are highly seasoned and spiced) and the drained beans.

Simmer for around 15 minutes until the sausages are cooked through and the sauce has thickened up a little.

Check the seasoning

Serve with chopped flat leaf parsley.

Nice!

Welcome lovers of Italian food!

Dear All,

Welcome to my little blog. My name is Shaun and although a chef by trade have left the industry (..more or less!) to pursue a different career path. I trained in both French and Italian kitchens and have a passion for both cuisines. The great thing about the Italian kitchen for me is the diversity that can be seen from region to region. The food available really does vary from the North to the South, and to the islands of course and the seasonality truly does reflect what will be on offer. I am a great lover of fish, game, vegetables and everything in between. Truffles of course are way up on the list and have been fortunate enough to work with them (and perhaps have a nibble or two as well along the way!)

I am always to keen to learn about others foodie experiences and look forward to discussing this topic with others.

Here I would really just like to invite fellow foodies to discuss and share our thoughts, recipies, debates and ideas about Italian cusine. I will try to include a few recipies from my Uncle Umberto who as a native to Rome and a chef by trade has promised to pass on a few of his tips, and of course my dear Mama's recipies also.

So if you have a passion for Italian food then please join us, post a question perhaps and we can try to help answer all our questions.

Happy cooking and Buon appetito!

Shaun