Cassoulet-Style Italian Sausages and White Beans

When deciding on what to post today, I had originally planned on posting about the Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cupcakes that I made for Cupcake Camp New Haven last weekend.  You’ll get your cupcakes, no worries, but I just saw the trailer to Pam Anderson’s new cookbook, Perfect One-Dish Dinners, over on Three Many Cooks and there was no question in my mind what today’s post would actually be.

The lovely Pam and her two darlings, Maggy and Sharon, opened up their home in Bucks County, PA to Big Summer Potluck back in August.  Maggy and Erika from The Ivory Hut were the brains behind the operation of this unforgettable food blogging workshop and part of the event’s swag bag was Pam’s soon-to-be released cookbook.  Yay!!  After a 3 1/2 hour drive home after the workshop that night, I dove right into the book – how could I resist?  And the first recipe I bookmarked to make was the Cassoulet-Style Italian Sausages and White Beans.  Everything about the recipe appealed to me including the fact that the whole dish was to be baked in the oven.  No stove-top prep is always a bonus, isn’t it??  Well it just so happens that Pam demos this dish in the cookbook trailer so I figured that there would be no better time to post about my love for these sausages and white beans than on the day that Pam released the trailer for Perfect One-Dish Dinners.

The prep for this, one of my new favorite dishes, couldn’t be easier.  You literally toss all of the ingredients except for the white beans into a roasting pan and bake for 45 minutes then add in the beans and bake for another 10 minutes.  Umm, does dinner get any easier than that?? But it wasn’t the ease of prep that moved this dish to the top of my list; it was the flavor.  It’s the tomatoes that burst when they are roasted that brings all of the flavors together and ever since I fell head over heels in love with Scalloped Tomatoes, I’ve been smitten with what roasted tomatoes can do for a dish.  I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll love these sausages and white beans as much as I do so why wait to make it?? They were on my menu for this week before I decided to post about them today and with the rainy raw day we’re having here, I’ve just decided that we’re having this again tonight.  Don’t you just love it when you can look forward to dinner so much?

Perfect One-Dish Dinners is filled with recipes organized by theme: Stews for All Seasons, Worldly Casseroles, Roasting Pan Complete and Big Summer Salads and Grilled Platters.  Every single recipe includes at least one side dish or starter recipe plus a dessert – in other words, Pam does the hard work by setting up the menu for you! Some of the recipes I’m dying to make this fall include Carnita-Style Beef with Roasted Peppers and Onions, Jerk Chicken Chili, and Salsa Verde Chicken with Herbed Cornmeal Dumplings, and One-Pot Penne with Turkey-Feta Meatballs.  And for you vegetarians, Pam includes a vegetarian alternative for a number of the recipes.  You can’t go wrong with this book and if you’re looking for a new book full of fantastic recipes that will make your heart sing and tummy happy, don’t hesitate to invest in Perfect One-Dish Dinners.

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Cassoulet-Style Italian Sausages and White Beans
source: Pam Anderson, Perfect One-Dish Dinners

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs sweet Italian chicken, turkey, or pork sausage links
• 3 pints cherry tomatoes
• 1 medium-large onion, cut into 1 1/2″ chunks
• 4 large garlic cloves, sliced
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cans (about 16 oz each) white beans (cannellini), undrained

Instructions:

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Mix sausages, tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, thyme, bay leaves, and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper in a large heavy roasting pan.  Set pan in oven and roast until sausages are brown and tomatoes have reduced to a thick sauce, about 45 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from oven, stir in beans, and continue to roast until casserole has heated through, about 10 minutes longer.  Fish out bay leaves and serve.

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