Escarole and Beans
This dish is a staple in our house. It combines escarole with cannellini beans to create a hearty stew like meal. We love it flavored with pork products like sausage or pork chops. For a very hearty dish you can add a small pasta like ditalini or elbows. Serve it as a main dish with hot Italian bread or as a side dish or starter.
Ingredients
4 heads escarole
Extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic
Salt
Black pepper
Red pepper flakes
8 Italian sausages
2 -13oz cans cannellini beans
1 - 8 oz can Hunts tomato sauce
2 - 32 oz containers chicken broth
3/4 cup white wine
2 chicken bouillon cubes
Directions
1 Cut the bottom part of the escarole bunch off. Clean escarole in water, removing all the dirt and sand from leaves.
2 Add the cleaned escarole to a large pot and boil until leaves are soft. Approximately 20 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
3 In a smaller pot, cover the bottom with olive oil, add chopped garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper . Let sauté . When garlic is golden brown add the sausage and brown. Approximately 25 minutes.
4 Drain the escarole and add to the sautéd sausage. Mix well. Add 2 cans cannellini beans with the liquid, hunts tomato sauce, white wine, chicken bouillon cubes and broth. Mix well.
5 Taste and add more seasonings if necessary.
6 Let it simmer approximately 40 minutes.
Serve hot with grated cheese and warm crostini’s or a loaf of Italian bread.
Variations- no meat
Pork chop cubed
Ham cubed
Great winter dish. Warms the heart.
