Italian White Bean and Sausage Stew

This comforting and substantial white bean and sausage stew is a soup that eats like a meal! Browning the sausage in a dry pan creates a beautiful fond that adds rich flavor. With beans, greens, and sausage, this stew is incredibly nutritious and warms you from the inside out. Serve with a hunk of crusty Italian bread.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 30 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins
• Calories: 669 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• ⅓ cup dry white wine
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 ½ cups dry cannellini beans
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 4 cups chopped kale
• 4 (6 ounce) Italian sausage links with garlic and fennel
• 6 cups water, or to taste
• 6 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or to taste
• 6 pinches red pepper flakes

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Soak beans in cold water, 8 hours to overnight.

Step 2

Drain beans and set aside.

Step 3

Make a cut down the center of each sausage and peel off the casing. Transfer sausage into a dry soup pot over medium-high heat. Brown sausage, while breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes. Cook and stir until juices start to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pan, creating a fond, 3 to 5 minutes.

Step 4

Add onion and stir to coat in the rendered sausage fat. Cook until onion starts to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add white wine to deglaze the pot. Add black pepper, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, and water.

Step 5

Add drained beans, increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add salt and continue to simmer until beans are tender, about 30 more minutes. Taste beans to be certain they are perfectly cooked.

Step 6

Smash about 1/4 of the beans with a potato masher to give the stew a creamy texture if desired. Stir in chopped kale, increase heat to medium, and cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and adjust salt.

Step 7

Ladle hot soup into bowls, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and a pinch of red pepper flakes.