Ingredients: 

2 cups (14 oz) dried cannellini beans

6 garlic cloves

1 tomato, cored and halved

salt and freshly ground pepper

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

8 fresh Italian sausages, about 2 1/2 oz each

2 cups (12 oz) crushed canned plum (Roma) tomatoes with juice

8 fresh sage leaves (optional)

Instructions: 

*Pick over the beans, discarding any grit or mis-shapen beans. Rinse well and place in a bowl. Add water to cover generously (enough for beans to expand but still be covered in water when it’s time to drain them) and let soak overnight.

*The next day, drain the beans and place in a large saucepan with 7 cups (56 oz) water. Bring to a boil and add 2 of the garlic cloves, 4 of the sage leaves (optional) and the tomato halves to the saucepan. DO NOT add salt at this point – it will make the beans tough.  Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, until the beans are tender, 1 1/2- 2 hours.  Season with salt, then drain the beans.  Discard the garlic cloves, sage and tomato.

*Crush the  remaining 4 garlic cloves. In a large frying pan, warm together the olive oil, salt, remaining sage leaves and the 4 crushed garlic cloves. Add the sausages and brown lights on all sides, about 10 minutes. Add the beans and crushed tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, stirring gently every so often, for about 15 minutes. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary. I rarely need to adjust the seasoning, at this point. You want to get the salt added earlier so that it brings out the best flavor of the beans with the tomatoes. Adding salt at the end of a cooking process means that your meal tastes salty because it doesn’t have time to absorb into the ingredients.

*Spoon the beans onto  a warmed oval platter. Lay the sausages on top and serve.

Mangia!