Sausage & Haricot Bean stew

Ingredients
225g dried haricot, cannellini or flageolet beans (or 2 x 400g tins of cooked beans)
bouquet garni
1 carrot, peeled
1 onion, peeled
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for frying
450g fennel and chilli pork sausages or best pork sausages
175g chopped onion
4 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 x 400g tin of plum tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
flaky sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar
flat-leaf parsley or chervil, to serve

Method
Soak the beans overnight in a large pan with plenty of cold water. Next day, strain the beans, discarding the soaking liquid, and return them to the pan. Cover with fresh cold water and add the bouquet garni, carrot and onion. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes - 1 hour until the beans are soft, but not mushy. Just before the end of cooking, season with salt. Remove the bouquet garni and vegetables from the pan and discard. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid.
Fry the sausages in a few drops of oil over a medium heat until nicely coloured and remove from the pan and set aside.
Heat the oil over a lowish heat in the same saucepan and cook the chopped onion for 7-8 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute or two before adding the chopped tomatoes and their juice, the cooked beans and the rosemary. Add the sausages and simmer for 5-6 minutes, adding some of the bean liquid if the sauce starts to dry out. Season well with salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar. Cook for a further 5-6 minutes or until the sausages are heated through. The mixture should be juicy, but not swimming in liquid ÂÂÂ- if it starts to dry out, add more of the bean liquid.
To serve, scatter with plenty of parsley and accompany with a salad of organic leaves or crusty bread, if you wish.
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