This recipe will take you about fifteen minutes to prepare and assemble before you leave for work.
Your efforts will be rewarded when you walk in the door knowing that all you have to do is wash and slice the spinach, sauté the sausages, make a salad, and dinner will be on the table. You can use your own homemade beans, if you were smart enough to soak dried cannellini beans overnight and then cook them for about ten minutes in the pressure cooker while sautéing the onion, garlic, carrots and celery in the morning.
Unfortunately, I’m normally not that well organized. Consequently, I suggest using canned Progresso cannellini beans, which I think are almost as good as the dried ones I make and pressure cook. Please note that Progresso cannellini beans come in a nineteen-ounce can, so if you use another brand in the industry standard fifteen-ounce can, you will have a little less soup than if you use Progresso cannellini beans.
Serve the stew in deep soup bowls with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and finely chopped Italian parsley. A big green salad, a crusty baguette or rosemary olive oil bread, and a fine Rioja will round out this meal.
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided use)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 or 2 celery stalks, diced
- 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 large or 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 19-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 bunch spinach, washed well and sliced into thin ribbons
- 4 Lightlife Smart Sausages Chorizo Style
- Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 3–4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- Heat a skillet and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sauté the onion for 5–6 minutes until translucent. Add the diced carrots and celery, and sauté about 4–5 minutes more. Add the garlic and sauté for one more minute.
- Prep the tomatoes and potatoes, and assemble the other ingredients while the vegetables are sautéing.
- Put a liner in the slow cooker. Add the contents of the skillet, the tomatoes and potatoes, paprika, stock, tomato paste, and cannellini beans. Stir a bit to make sure everything is well mixed. Cover the slow cooker and cook 4–5 hours on high or up to 8 hours on low.
- When you get home, check the slow cooker. If it has cycled down to the warm setting, turn it back up to high. Wash the spinach well and slice it into thin ribbons. Add the spinach ribbons to the slow cooker. Lightly sauté the chorizo sausages in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Let cool slightly. Quarter the sausages lengthwise, thinly slice, and add the sausage pieces to the slow cooker. Cook for about 10 minutes while you make the salad. Serve in deep soup bowls with some crusty bread.
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