Sundried Tomato Chicken Sausage and White Bean Stew
It’s Valentines Day Eve… wait, do people even call it that? In our house Valentine’s Day is all about getting out the class list and attaching suckers to selectively chosen cards for each boy and girl, shoe boxes are being converted into Valentine “mailboxes” and outfits are being set out in shades of red, pink and white. Golly I sure do miss being a kid.
Now Valentines for you should be all about this stew!? I mean doesn’t it scream romance?
Okay so maybe not, but this soul warming sausage and bean stew tastes absolutely delicious {is it me or do I say that a lot on here?}! Anywho… it’s hearty, healthy and all of it is whipped up one pan and you know how that makes me feel. I loved this stew SO much that I’m already planning a night next week to make it again, but this time I’m most likely not sharing.
Truth: I was extremely excited to make and eat dinner that night… however at first my family was less than thrilled… here’s why:
A: The beans. My eight-year-old gave those the stank-eye until I reminded her of the hummus I made with white beans a couple weeks ago… then she gobbled it up. Crisis adverted.
B: The spinach. I personally LOVE spinach. I like spinach in my salads, spinach in my frittata and now… spinach in my stew! I’ve even converted my husband to like spinach… now I pray that with each serving of spinach I force down give lovingly to my girls, they’re that much closer to crossing over to the spinach side.
C: OOOOOkay so let’s be honest… this stew isn’t that pretty. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the most unattractive dinner I’ve ever made, but it’s close. Good thing it sure was tasty and PLUS it has wine it in, so all is forgiven right?
Well this dinnertime story ended with me licking my bowl clean, Pat said it was really good and my girls just picked and ate the beans and sausage… so I ate their leftovers too. What? I couldn’t let it go to waste.
Let’s talk sausage. Those beauts^ are sundried tomato and basil chicken sausages. You should be able to find them at your major grocery store. It’s absolutely bonkers how incredibly flavorful they are, not to mention MSG and nitrate free… bingo-bango!
Like every good stew start by slicing up a large yellow onion or if you only have two smallish ones… that’ll work too.
Then roughly chop up four cloves of fresh garlic.
Then in a deep 10 inch skillet, add a tablespoon of olive oil and when it’s all shimmery and hot add in the chicken sausages.
They’ll probably dance around in the pan as the skin crisps and blisters… it’s kind of fun to watch actually. And yes… I’m always this easily entertained. Next just remove them to a cutting board for a second.
Reduce the heat to medium and add in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, drop in the sliced onions, chopped garlic and two sprigs of thyme.
Give them a good stir and let them cook for 5-8 minutes to soften.
Now comes my favorite part. Pour in 4 tablespoons of white wine into the pan… and then about 16 more tablespoons into a wine glass annnnnd sip. What is it about cooking with wine that makes me so darn thirsty??
BTW I’m using my favorite white wine to drink, zee Pinot Grigio.
With a wooden spoon scrape up all those yummy bits that are on the bottom of the pan.
Pour in the two cups of chicken broth.
Dump in the rinsed and drained cannellini beans.
And mash some of them up with your spoon to thicken the stew a bit. Let this simmer for a few minutes.
Slice up the sausages…
Throw them into the pan…
Grab an entire 5 ounce package {or 10 cups} of baby spinach leaves and throw those in on top of everything. Cover with a lid for like, 2 minutes.
Bam! Wilted spinach. Obviously now it’s easier to stir the spinach into the stew.
Season it with some coarsely ground black pepper and a couple pinches of kosher salt. So of course any size coarse of black pepper would work… but I left it a little bit big because it’s a stew and I like stew with big flecks of pepper.
Don’t forget to remove those thyme stems!
So before I served dinner, I buttered and griddled up a few slices of Asiago cheese bread that I bought at a local bakery. The Asiago-ness of the bread went perfect with the stew, so if you can get your mitts on some DO IT.
Because when it comes to soups and stews I like to dunk some form of carb aka bread {even bagels when I’m desperate} into the broth so it can soak up all the delicious flavors. I mean really, who needs spoons?
Just dunk and eat… and repeat. That’s my motto for most meals.
Now go on and enjoy this comforting bowl of goodness.
Sundried Tomato Chicken Sausage and White Bean Stew
A one "pot" stew that's so quick and easy to throw together but tastes as if it's simmered away on your stove top for hours.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour-ish
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
12-16 ounces Sundried Tomato and Basil Chicken Sausage
1 large Yellow Onion, peeled, halved and sliced thin
4 Fresh Garlic Cloves, smashed, peeled and roughly chopped {small}
2 sprigs Fresh Thyme
4 tablespoons White Wine {like Pinot Grigio}
2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
2 {15 ounces each} cans of Cannellini Beans, rinsed
5 ounces {10 cups} Baby Spinach
1/4 teaspoon Coarse Ground Black Pepper
Kosher Salt, to taste
Crusty Bread, for dunking {totally optional}
Inspired by Chorizo & White Bean Stew from Bon Appétit Magazine February 2013
Directions:
In a deep-sided 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat, add in a tablespoon of olive oil. Once good and hot, add in the chicken sausages.
Cook for 6-8 minutes or until cooked through and the skin is crispy. Reduce the temp to medium and remove the sausages to a cutting board {to cool} and add the remaining olive oil to the pan. Drop in the sliced onions, chopped garlic and the two sprigs of thyme. Cook for 5-8 minutes until the onions are soft and translucent.
Add in the four tablespoons of white wine and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan from the sausages. Pour in the two cups of chicken broth and stir.
Add in the beans and with your spoon, mash a few up to thicken the broth and let simmer for a few minutes.
Slice up the chicken sausages and add them back into the pan along with the 10 ounces of baby spinach. Cover for 2-3 minutes to wilt the spinach.
Stir, season with black pepper and kosher salt.
Don't forget to remove the thyme stems before serving.
Serve with a few slices of toasted bakery bread and you're good to go {unless you're gluten free of course :)}!
Over the past few years I’ve been on a mission to find and create recipes that I can make from scratch. I hope you enjoy the recipes on this blog as they are tried and true from my kitchen to yours! (
This looks delicious! I have all the ingredients. I am so making this for dinner
This looks sooo cozy and delicious. I just want to curl up in the bowl!
I miss being a kid during Valentines Day too. I loved making the “paper-woven” baskets that was taped in front of my desk, having cupcakes, cookies, fruit punch and any other red-colored treats. And trading conversation hearts with my best friend so we ended up with a box of all our favorite messages.
Means something completely different for me, but cooking for my love is definitely one of my definitions of Valentines Day! I love the flavors you have in this stew! I’ll need to find a way to make it vegetarian-friendly for my hubby and me!
I wish we had those Valentine’s Day traditions at my school in Austria. I grew up in Indonesia with huge Valentine’s Day events and the first year after moving back home I was convinced that Austrians celebrated the same way, with home-made cards, chocolates and all. I woke up early gathered every chocolatey item I could find in the house, wrapped it up and gave all of my friends a gift. I don’t think anyone knew what I was doing or why I was doing it but I felt so good about myself
simplyscratch replied: — February 13th, 2013 @ 8:13 pm
I love this story Antonia… I bet you made their day too!
I could liiiiiiiive on this stewwwwwwww.
GAH! Seared sausage – I love it! It’s so chilly here today too, a great soup would be perfection.
Laurie, beauty is in the eye of the beholder; and I think this stew looks stunning!
This is my kind of soup. I want to curl up with a bowl of this soup, some red wine, and a good book. Yum
Sounds healthy and delicious! MMm perfect for these cold days!
simplyscratch replied: — February 13th, 2013 @ 8:09 pm
YES I totally agree!
This looks like my kind of Valentine’s Day meal!!
My kind of meal for sure.
I wouldn’t say this stew is unattractive! I think it looks beyond delicious and I foresee it gracing my stomach within a few days. I’m with you on the chicken sausage, there is something about it that is just so flavorful, and dare I say better than regular sausage?? Very very yummy and perfect Galentine’s Day meal!
simplyscratch replied: — February 13th, 2013 @ 8:09 pm
I totally agree Mandie… it’s way better!!
This soup is gorgeous! It looks amazing, and good enough to make a huge batch and eat it every day for lunch.
This look delicious!!
this looks absolutely delicious! definitely making this soup this weekend
do you mind sharing what camera model you are using? i’ve been a long-time reader and am always amazed because your pictures are so so gorgeous! i am camera shopping and am overwhelmed by all the different brands and models out there.
I’m not much of a Valentine’s Day celebrator but that totally needs to change with this stew! It looks so hearty and comforting!
This is NOT an unattractive soup, I think it looks beautiful. I don’t eat sausage, but I bet this soup would be really good with just beans and spinach.
This looks so delicious and hearty!
I need to find that sausage! This stew sounds perfect!
This stew looks beautiful! I happen to have chicken sausage in my fridge and have been thinking about making a recipe similar to this. I think I need to give your recipe a try!
One pot is like music to my ears – not many dishes!! This looks so hearty and comforting, can’t ask for more in my opinion!
I could live on this stew. I love the combination of the chicken sausage, spinach and white beans.
YUMMMMMMM I wonder if it would work with Kale? Love your pictures. Shoot, now I’m hungry, gotta run!
simplyscratch replied: — February 14th, 2013 @ 4:09 pm
Absolutely it would! In fact maybe that’s what I’ll use next time!
These are pretty much all of my flavours in one bowl. Can’t wait to give it a try!
This could be a serious staple in my house! Wine gives everything a nice touch and all those flavors cooking together are warming my belly. I’m not opposed to finding a nook to hide the pot of stew in so that I don’t have to share either
Made this for dinner tonight, and I’m embarrassed to say that, uh..it only took two of us to polish off the entire thing! This was SO delicious! Thanks Laurie, love your blog!!
simplyscratch replied: — February 19th, 2013 @ 8:18 am
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it Jane! Thanks for coming back and posting a review, you rock!
Yesterday itself I brought sausage, but the way i am preparing it is totally different. This is what unique recipe for me for sausage.
Healthy Oil
I had this for dinner tonight with ciabatta. Deliciousness defined! My teenagers declined to even try it, and I’m not going to beg them! More for me! Love your personality and love your recipes! Thanks. Keep up the good work.
I’m definitely gonna make this tonight! Do you think Kale would work in place of the spinach as I do have Kale in my garden right now???
Thanks!
simplyscratch replied: — February 21st, 2013 @ 3:50 pm
I think Kale would totally work! Please come back and let me know and I’ll include it in the recipe notes
Mmmm this is right up my alley. Can’t wait to try it. Hugs from Alaska.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge success, as usual. My husband loved it enough that he’s super excited to take the leftovers to work for lunch tomorrow. Your recipes are really well tested. I always know I’m in good hands when I cook from your blog so thanks!
I made this tonight and my husband and I both loved it! It’s definitely a keeper!
Ah! This looks delicious!! But my family freaks when I add beans. Any tips or hints to get around the beans?
Maybe I’ll just have to half the recipe for me and baby. My hub and 3 big kids can make their own dinner?!
simplyscratch replied: — April 10th, 2013 @ 9:43 pm
I told my girls that they really don’t taste like much… that probably doesn’t help you, but that just means more for you