Name: One-Pan Italian Sausage with White Beans and Kale
Total time: 1 h
Ingredients: 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans , rinsed, divided; 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes , drained, divided, with juice reserved; 1 cup chicken broth; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage , pricked all over with fork; 1 onion , chopped fine; 3 garlic cloves , minced; 1 pound kale , stemmed and chopped; 1/4 teaspoon table salt

Why This Recipe Works

Nothing is more comforting on a cool night than a flavorful bowl of hearty beans and sausage. For a new take on this simple dish, we paired creamy, tender white beans and robust kale with meaty Italian sausage. Since we aimed to cook down a lot of kale, a Dutch oven was the ideal vessel. We wanted the sausages to be coated in a velvety sauce, so we started by pureeing cannellini beans with canned diced tomatoes. The canned tomatoes’ juice and some chicken broth thinned the puree and deepened its flavor. We ensured that the sausages held their shape by pricking the casings with a fork before cooking. After browning them to build some fond, we removed the sausages, softened chopped onion in their meaty renderings, and added garlic and the bean-tomato puree to the pot. Adding extra diced tomatoes created some textural contrast, and wilting a whole pound of kale was as easy as stirring it into the pot, covering the pot, and letting the kale simmer away. We returned the browned sausages to the pot along with more cannellini beans during the last 10 minutes of cooking, allowing the sausages to cook through and the beans to absorb some of the flavorful broth.

Before You Begin

Serve with crusty bread.

Instructions

Process ½ cup beans, ½ cup tomatoes, reserved tomato juice, and broth in food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add sausages and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes; transfer to plate.

Add onion to fat left in pot and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in kale, salt, pureed bean-tomato mixture, and remaining tomatoes, scraping up any browned bits. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted and tender, about 15 minutes.

Stir in remaining beans, then nestle sausages into pot along with any accumulated juices. Cover and simmer until sausages register 160 degrees and sauce is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.