7/12/11

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.....













3 comments:

LC said...

This looks fabulous -- and easy. I never thought much about the nutritional value of cannelini beans -- I learned something new today. Thanks! {and thank you for the recipe}.

Lill' Me said...

I made this the other night, it was amazing! Thanks for the easy recipe. My hubby, MIL and sister in law were over and loved it also. I'm always looking for yummy (and easy!!) recipes.

Sistas in Zion said...

This looks absolutely delicious. Got some veggie sausage, maybe I'll give it a try with that.