Cooking 101 - Linguine with Chicken Sausage & Cannellini Beans

Um.....DELISH.

I'm not eating pasta right now---but I caved after I created this delicious dinner last night.  (I only had a smidge, though--just enough to say I had some and had to stop myself!)  I did dish myself up some without the pasta, though, and it is still amazing without it.

Cannellini beans are so versatile and they're full of good things for you.  Well, check this site out---you can see for yourself how great these little beans are.  (they have twice the amount of iron as beef!)

LINGUINE WITH CHICKEN SAUSAGE & CANNELLINI BEANS:

For the sauce: (start 1 hour before)

1/2 large onion, or one small onion, finely diced

2-3 cloves garlic

2-3 fresh basil leaves, chopped

2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes

1/2 c. water

salt 

1/4 c. heavy cream (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large pan, saute onion and garlic until soft.  Add basil leaves, water and tomatoes, saute for about 45 minutes until everything is soft and thick.  Add heavy cream and stir until combined.  Add salt to taste.

For Sausage mixture:

1 pkg. of 4 Chicken Sausages (mine were chicken, onion, asiago, and pepper), sliced into rounds

1 Tbsp. butter

1 14-oz. can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

salt

Heat a large saute pan, add chicken sausage and brown for a few minutes.  Add cannellini beans, butter, and a little salt; stir and saute until everything turns golden brown and is heated through.  Set aside in a bowl.

**NOTE: you could also add thin sliced peppers to this mixture

For Pasta:

Well, you pretty much know what to do, right?  Cook it and drain it.  The noodles should be soft but not too soft.

To assemble: 

Dish some pasta in a bowl; add sauce; add sausage mixture; top with grated Parmesean or Asiago cheese and serve with some yummy Italian crusty bread.  mmmmm.....